Rupee settles 5 paise lower at 85.73 against US dollar

The rupee fell 5 paise to settle at 85.73 (provisional) against the US dollar on Tuesday, as higher crude oil prices and outflow of foreign funds continued to weigh on the local unit.

Forex traders said the rupee pared some of its intraday losses as the American currency retreated from its elevated levels. Moreover, the recovery in the domestic equity market also aided sentiments.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 85.77, touched the day's peak of 85.65 and hit an intraday low of 85.80 against the greenback. The unit settled at 85.73 (provisional) against the dollar, registering a fall of 5 paise from its previous close.

On Monday, the rupee settled 11 paise higher at 85.68 against the dollar. During intraday, the unit had hit the lowest-ever level of 85.84 against the American currency.

"We expect the rupee to trade with a negative bias on FII outflows and underlying strength in the US dollar amid expectations of no rate cut by Fed in January. However, any extended recovery in the domestic markets may support rupee at lower levels.

"Traders may take cues from ISM services PMI, trade balance and JOLTS jobs data from the US. USD-INR spot price is expected to trade in a range of Rs 85.50 to Rs 85.90," Anuj Choudhary, Research Analyst at Mirae Asset Sharekhan, said.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.30 per cent lower at 107.92, amid disappointing US services PMI and factory orders data, while President-elect Donal Trump dismissed rumours over stringent trade tariffs.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, rose 0.42 per cent to USD 76.62 per barrel in futures trade.

In the domestic equity market, the 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 234.12 points, or 0.30 per cent, to settle at 78,199.11 points, while the Nifty climbed 91.85 points, or 0.39 per cent, to 23,707.90 points. Both the indices had crashed 1.60 per cent on Monday.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) offloaded Rs 2,575.06 crore in the capital markets on a net basis on Monday, according to exchange data.

On the domestic macroeconomic front, India's services sector growth touched a four-month high in December, supported by new business inflows on strong demand conditions and easing inflationary pressures, a monthly survey showed on Monday.

The seasonally adjusted HSBC India Services Business Activity Index, rose from 58.4 in November to 59.3 in December, highlighting the strongest rate of expansion in four months.

According to the World Gold Council (WGC), the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) continued with its 2024 buying streak, adding a further 8 tonnes to its gold reserves in November. This lifted the year-to-date buying to 73 tonnes and total gold holdings to 876 tonnes, maintaining its position as the second largest buyer in 2024, after Poland.