Rupee falls 25 paise to close at 82.10 against U.S. dollar

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The rupee depreciated 25 paise to close at 82.10 (provisional) against the U.S. currency on April 17 as a strong American currency overseas and a negative trend in domestic equities weighed on investor sentiments.

Forex traders said firm crude oil prices also dragged the local unit down.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic unit opened at 81.90 against the dollar, and finally ended the session at 82.10 (provisional), 25 paise lower down from its previous close.

Also read: Rupee falls 12 paise to 81.97 against U.S. dollar

During the day, the rupee witnessed a high of 81.87 and a low of 82.10 against the greenback.

On Thursday, the rupee settled at 81.85 against the dollar.

Domestic forex and equity markets were closed on Friday on account of Ambedkar Jayanti.

“The Indian rupee started the week on a sour note after a long weekend amid a rebound in the dollar index and risk-off sentiments. However, the day trading range remained small in the absence of fresh cues,” said Dilip Parmar, Research Analyst, HDFC Securities.

There is a relief at factory gate inflation as the wholesale inflation reading came at 1.34% below the 1.6% estimates and 3.85% the previous month.

Spot USD/INR is hovering around 82 amid the Central bank’s intervention and dollar buying from the importers, Mr. Parmar said, adding that technically, the pair has support at 81.70 and resistance at 82.50.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, rose 0.76% to 101.71.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, declined 0.12%t to $86.21 per barrel.

On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share BSE Sensex closed 520.25 points or 0.86% lower at 59,910.75 points. The broader NSE Nifty declined 121.15 points or 0.68% to 17,706.85 points.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net buyers in the capital markets on Thursday as they purchased shares worth ₹221.85 crore, according to exchange data.

Meanwhile, India’s forex reserves increased by $6.306 billion to $584.755 billion for the week ended April 7, the RBI said on Friday.