Mumbai, Dec. 12 (PTI): The Indian rupee ended almost flat at 73.64, up 2 paise, against the American currency on Friday as dollar buying by banks weighed on the domestic currency.
At the interbank forex market, the domestic unit opened at 73.65 against the US dollar and witnessed an intra-day high of 73.56 and a low of 73.71.
The local unit finally closed at 73.64 against the American currency, registering a rise of 2 paise over its previous close.
On a weekly basis, the rupee has gained 16 paise.
“The Indian rupee ended flat this Friday as persistent dollar purchases from RBI offset gains from foreign equity inflows into the domestic markets,” said Sriram Iyer, Senior Research Analyst at Reliance Securities.
Further, optimism surrounding the roll-out of Covid-19 vaccines and hopes of additional US stimulus aid has also helped the local unit, Iyer noted.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.12 per cent higher at 90.93.
Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, fell 0.46 per cent to USD 50.52 per barrel.
On the domestic equity market front, the BSE Sensex ended 139.13 points or 0.30 per cent higher at 46,099.01; while the broader NSE Nifty jumped 35.55 points or 0.26 per cent to 13,513.85.
Foreign institutional investors were net buyers in the capital market as they purchased shares worth INR 4,195.43 crore on a net basis on Friday, according to exchange data.
Traders further said that markets will look for cues from the IIP number this week and CPI number next week.
Investors will also await cues from the Fed meeting next week and any fresh triggers from the US fiscal stimulus talks.
