Rupee gains for 4th straight session, settles at 74.17/USD

Mumbai, Aug. 5 (PTI): The Indian rupee on Thursday further consolidated gains and settled at 74.17 to the US dollar, a level not seen in nearly seven weeks, amid sustained uptrend in domestic equities.

Though, investors treaded cautiously awaiting the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) policy decision to be announced on Friday, forex traders said.

At the interbank forex market, the rupee opened at 74.15 and hit an intra-day low of 74.28. It finally closed at 74.17, higher by 2 paise over its last close, marking its fourth straight session of gains. This was the best closing level for the domestic unit since June 21.

“Rupee traded volatile in an uncertain range as the financial market stayed range-bound with volatility, and RBI policy due on August 6 shall be closely watched with expectations of no change but commentary will be tracked by currency exchange. Rupee can be seen in range of 74.00-74.45,” Jateen Trivedi, Senior Research Analyst at LKP Securities, said.

Gaurang Somaiyaa, Forex & Bullion Analyst, Motilal Oswal Financial Services, said, the rupee consolidated in a narrow range but traded with an appreciation bias as domestic equities continued to gain momentum.

“Expectation is that the central bank could maintain a dovish stance and could keep rupee gains capped. Pound witnessed volatility after the Bank of England maintained a dovish stance. We expect the USD/INR (Spot) to trade sideways with a negative bias and quote in the range of 74.05 and 74.50,” Somaiyaa said.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, rose 0.74 per cent to USD 70.90 per barrel.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, declined 0.05 per cent to 92.22.

On the domestic equity market front, the BSE Sensex ended 123.07 points or 0.23 per cent higher at 54,492.84, while the broader NSE Nifty advanced 35.80 points or 0.22 per cent to 16,294.60.

Meanwhile, foreign institutional investors were net buyers in the capital market on Wednesday as they purchased shares worth INR 2,828.57 crore, as per exchange data.