Rupee Vs Dollar: The local unit closed 37 paise higher against the dollar at 73.68
The rupee rose by 37 paise against the US dollar and settled at 73.68 (provisional) on Tuesday, December 1, amid positive domestic equities and sustained foreign fund inflows, which strengthened investor sentiment. At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local unit opened at 73.93 against the dollar and recorded an intra-day high of 73.44. It witnessed a low of 73.93. In early trade, the rupee rose 16 paise to 73.89 against the dollar. It finally closed at 73.68, registering an increase of 37 paise over its previous close. On Friday, the local unit had settled 17 paise lower at 74.05 against the American currency. The forex market was closed on Monday on the occasion of Guru Nanak Jayanti. The improved domestic macro-economic data, besides positive developments of the COVID019 vaccine, coupled with the weakness of the American currency also supported the rupee.
The dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, was down by 0.19 per cent to 91.69. According to exchange data, the foreign institutional investors were net buyers in the capital market as they purchased shares worth Rs 7,712.98 crore on a net basis on November 27. On the domestic equity market, the BSE Sensex closed 505.72 points or 1.15 per cent higher at 44,655.44, while the NSE Nifty climbed 140.10 points or 1.08 per cent to 13,109.05.
“Positive global cues and strong buying interest from FIIs helped the markets maintain its upward momentum. The dollar index is weakening and it is now at the lowest point of the last two years, which is positive for emerging markets and especially for Indian markets where governance standard has improved substantially in the last two years. It has attracted the highest inflows for Indian equities out of total inflows for emerging markets. We need to be more and more selective in terms of trading in stocks.,” said Shrikant Chouhan, Executive Vice President, Equity Technical Research at Kotak Securities.
“Indian rupee appreciated on Tuesday on the back of weakness in dollar and rise in domestic markets. Market sentiments improved on optimism over positive developments in COVID-19 vaccine,” said Saif Mukadam, Research Analyst, Sharekhan by BNP Paribas.
Meanwhile, the economy registered a contraction of 7.5 per cent in the July-September quarter of the financial year. This was preceded by a 23.9 per cent contraction in the first quarter, The manufacturing sector showed a growth of 0.6 per cent in Q2, mostly led by gains in consumer goods.
Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, fell 0.17 per cent to USD 47.80 per barrel.