Rupee rises 18 paise to 82.77 against U.S. dollar in early trade

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| Photo Credit: R. Ragu

The rupee appreciated 18 paise to 82.77 against the US dollar in early trade on Monday, supported by bullish domestic equities wherein domestic indices touched record highs.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 82.82 and touched 82.77 against the dollar in initial trade, registering a rise of 18 paise from its previous close.

On Friday, the rupee strengthened for the eighth consecutive session to settle with a gain of 6 paise to 82.95 against the U.S. dollar.

The inflows are expected to continue and will the keep the pair of USD-INR on the downside as a major support at 82.80 comes up.

“Keep a close watch on what the Reserve Bank of India does during the day,” Anil Kumar Bhansali, the Head of Treasury and Executive Director Finrex Treasury Advisors LLP, said.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, was at 102.35.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude was at $78.54 per barrel.

“Monday’s US holiday is likely to result in decreased trading activity, potentially dampening market volatility. This development hints at positive trends for emerging market currencies amidst reduced holiday trading activity,” said CR Forex Advisors MD Amit Pabari.

U.S. stock exchanges are closed on Monday on account of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.

In the domestic equity market, the BSE Sensex was trading 707.03 points, or 0.97%, higher at 73,275.48 points. NSE Nifty advanced 178.40 points or 0.81% to 22,072.95 points.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the equity market on Friday as they offloaded shares worth ₹340.05 crore, according to exchange data.

On the domestic macro economic front, retail inflation soared to a four-month high of 5.69% in December, while industrial production fell to an eight-month low of 2.4 per cent in November, according to a set of government data released on Friday.