The rupee opened flat and rose 1 paisa to 84.07 against the US dollar in initial deals on Thursday, as a strong dollar and persistent foreign fund outflows dented investor sentiments.
Forex traders said the rupee remained range-bound as month-end demand kept the US dollar well-bid.
Moreover, a muted trend in domestic equities weighed on the local unit, while any intervention by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) may support the local currency at lower levels, they said.
At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 84.08 against the greenback; it rose one paisa to 84.07 in initial trade.
On Wednesday, the rupee depreciated three paise to close at 84.08 against the US dollar.
The local currency has been hovering around its all-time low. On October 11, the rupee touched its lowest closing level of 84.10 against the dollar.
The rupee has been trading below the 84-level for most of October, but the recent pressure is primarily due to domestic factors, notably month-end dollar demand from local oil companies, CR Forex Advisors MD Amit Pabari said.
However, upcoming IPO inflows may offer the rupee some relief as companies like Swiggy, Acme Solar Holdings, and Sagility Ltd prepare to raise funds next week.
“As a result, we anticipate the USDINR pair to remain within a narrow range of 83.80 to 84.20, with RBI interventions offering critical support to prevent any significant downside,” Pabari added.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading at 104.14, higher by 0.14 per cent.
Crude oil prices
The global oil benchmark of Brent crude was up 0.48 per cent to USD 72.90 per barrel in futures trade.
On the domestic equity market front, Sensex declined 163.76 points, or 0.20 per cent, to 79,778.42 points. The Nifty fell 32.00 points, or 0.13 per cent, to 24,308.85 points.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the capital markets on Wednesday, as they offloaded shares worth Rs 4,613.65 crore, according to exchange data.
On the macroeconomic front, the output of eight key infrastructure sectors expanded by 2 per cent in September, though the growth was slower than the 9.5 per cent registered in the same month last year, according to official data released on Wednesday.
The Centre’s fiscal deficit at the end of the first half of financial year FY25 touched 29.4 per cent of the full-year target, government data showed on Wednesday.
