Rupee slips 8 paise to close at 72.43 against US dollar

Mumbai, Feb. 25 (PTI): The Indian rupee ended 8 paise lower at 72.43 (provisional) against the US dollar on Thursday, weighed down by the spike in global crude oil prices.

At the interbank forex market, the local unit opened at 72.35 against the greenback and witnessed an intra-day high of 72.34 and a low of 72.53.

It finally ended at 72.43 against the American currency, registering a fall of 8 paise over its previous closing price.

On Wednesday, the rupee had settled at 72.35 against the American currency.

The dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, fell 0.45 per cent to 89.77.

“Rupee traded weak near 72.40 on back of some strength in the dollar and with higher crude price, where Brent touched 67+ and Nymex 63,” said Jateen Trivedi, Senior Research Analyst at LKP Securities.

Rupee can be seen trading between 72.10-72.60 with the broad trend still strong for rupee till the time 72.75 hold as resistance for USDINR, Trivedi added.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, advanced 0.42 per cent to USD 67.32 per barrel.

On the domestic equity market front, the BSE Sensex ended 257.62 points or 0.51 per cent higher at 51,039.31, while the broader NSE Nifty advanced 115.35 points or 0.77 per cent to 15,097.35.

Foreign institutional investors were net buyers in the capital market and purchased shares worth Rs 28,739.17 crore on a net basis on Wednesday, according to exchange data.