The Indian rupee lost 9 paise against the US dollar, dropping to 83.43 in early Monday trading. This was attributed to increasing crude oil prices and a decrease in foreign capital inflows. However, the rupee found some support due to a weakening US dollar and positive sentiment in the equity markets. At the opening of the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee started at 83.39 and declined to 83.43 against the dollar in the initial deals, marking a 9-paise decrease from its previous closing level of 83.34 on Friday. Simultaneously, the dollar index, which measures the dollar’s strength against six other currencies, was at 105.30, showing a 0.23% decrease. Anand James, the Chief Market Strategist at Geojit Financial Services, stated, “The US dollar slightly weakened on Friday following reports of decreasing inflation, strengthening the anticipation of Federal Reserve rate cuts this year.” Additionally, Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, increased by 0.52% to reach USD 85.44 per barrel. In the Indian stock market, the 30-share BSE Sensex rose by 0.17% (136.09 points) to 39,168.82, while the broader NSE Nifty increased by 0.17% (41.75 points) to 12,052.35.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the capital markets on Friday, as they offloaded shares worth Rs 23.09 crore, according to exchange data. India’s forex reserves increased by $1 million to $429.711 billion in the week ended June 21, the RBI said on Friday. In the previous week, the overall reserves had dropped by $2.922 billion to $428.895 billion. The growth of the eight key infrastructure sectors rose by 6.3 percent in May, driven by healthy expansion in the production of coal, natural gas, and electricity, although the growth rate was lower than in April, according to official data released on Friday. The central government’s fiscal deficit was at 3 percent of the annual estimates at May-end 2024-25, the first two months of the financial year during which the model code of conduct was in place due to Lok Sabha elections.
