By The rupee showcased a limited trading range against the US dollar during the early session on Monday, with investor sentiments dampened by crude oil prices hovering above USD 80 per barrel and a negative trend in the domestic equities market.
Forex traders noted that investors remained cautious and stayed on the sidelines, eagerly awaiting cues from the upcoming FOMC meeting and US FED decision scheduled for later this week. At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee initially opened at 82.00 against the dollar, slightly declining by 3 paise from its previous close, touching 82.01.
During early trade, the rupee reached a high of 81.98 against the American currency. The previous Friday had seen the rupee close at 81.98 against the US dollar.
Concurrently, the dollar index, which assesses the strength of the greenback against a basket of six currencies, experienced a marginal decrease of 0.05, reaching 101.01.
Global oil benchmark, Brent crude futures, traded 0.10 per cent lower at USD 80.99 per barrel.
Anil Kumar Bhansali, Head of Treasury at Finrex Treasury Advisors LLP, highlighted that Asian currencies were trading down against the dollar as the US dollar index climbed to 101.10. The rupee commenced near the 82 level, with close attention to the forthcoming FOMC meeting and FED decision on the 26th.
In positive news, India’s forex reserves surged by USD 12.743 billion to reach USD 609.022 billion in the week that ended on July 14, according to the Reserve Bank of India’s announcement on Friday.
In the domestic equity market, the 30-share BSE Sensex experienced a decline of 87.24 points or 0.13 per cent, settling at 66,597.02. Meanwhile, the broader NSE Nifty also saw a slight decrease of 10.65 points or 0.05 per cent, closing at 19,734.35.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the capital market on Friday, having offloaded shares worth Rs 1,998.77 crore, as per the exchange data.