On Friday, the rupee strengthened 5 paisa to 79.87 against the US dollar, supported by foreign fund inflows and a strong trend in domestic equities. At the interbank foreign exchange, the local currency increased by 5 paise from its opening rate of 79.87 against the dollar. In the previous session, the rupee depreciated 6 paisas to close at 79.92 against the dollar.
The dollar index, which gauges the value of one currency against a basket of six others, rose 0.05% to 108.51. Brent crude futures, the global benchmark for oil, gained by 0.83% to USD 100.16 per barrel.
As investors wait for more cues from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s speech regarding the timeframe for rate hikes from the US central bank, currency traders predict range-bound trading for the rupee this Friday.
Higher oil prices and a poor start for peers in the Asian and emerging market regions, according to Sriram Iyer, Senior Research Analyst at Reliance Securities, “may keep appreciating bias confined.” Before the monthly August futures expiry, he also mentioned that the markets might be range-bound.
The 30-share BSE Sensex increased 471.65 points, or 0.80%, to reach 59,246.37 on the stock exchanges. The broader NSE Nifty followed suit, rising 139.50 points, or 0.80%, to reach 17,661.95.
Preliminary data indicates that foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth Rs 369.06 crore on Thursday, continuing their trend of net purchases in the capital markets.
