Rupee Vs Dollar Today: The rupee settled at 73.12 against the dollar
The rupee appreciated by six paise against the US dollar on Thursday, May 20, to settle at 73.12 (provisional), tracking weakness in American currency in the global market. At the interbank foreign exchange market, the domestic unit opened at 73.16 against the dollar and swing to an intra-day high of 73.09. It registered a low of 73.17. In an early trade session, the domestic unit inched higher by three paise to 73.15 against the greenback. The rupee closed at 73.12 against the dollar, witnessing a rise of six paise over its previous closing.
On Wednesday, May 19, the local unit settled at 73.18 against the American currency. Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, slipped 0.09 per cent to 90.10.
”Today USDINR spot open flat at 73.16, Yesterday it depreciated against the US Dollar for the first time in four sessions, weighed down by importer demand for the greenback and a comparatively poor regional risk appetite. In today’s session, Asian currencies fell as equities fell ahead of the Fed’s April minutes, putting pressure on local currencies,” said Kshitij Purohit, Lead International Products & Commodities at CapitalVia Global Research Limited.
”The dollar index has recovered from its early losses against major currencies and traded higher in the second half of the day. The dollar index has recovered from $89.68 levels, and it can now shift towards resistance in the $90.10-$90.25 range,” added Mr Purohit.
On the domestic equity market front, the BSE Sensex ended 337.78 points or 0.68 per cent lower at 49,564.86, while the broader NSE Nifty slipped 124.10 points or 0.83 per cent to 14,906.05.
“The formation of an inverted hammer on Wednesday served as a bearish formation for the market. The Nifty closed at 14906, the lowest point of the day. Energy and metal stocks plummeted amid growing concerns about inflation in the United States. Bank-Nifty moved further to support which was between the levels of 33300/33200. Although the market fell, the decline was not severe,” said Shrikant Chouhan, Executive Vice President, Equity Technical Research at Kotak Securities.
According to exchange data, the foreign institutional investors were net sellers in the capital market on May 19 as they offloaded shares worth Rs 697.75 crore. Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, fell 1.91 per cent to $ 65.39 per barrel.