The Indian rupee lost 9 paise against the US dollar on Wednesday, reaching 83.27. This was due to a negative trend in the domestic stock market and higher crude oil prices. Forex traders observed that the rupee faced resistance due to subdued sentiment in the domestic equity market and the strengthening of the US dollar in the global market.
At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened at 83.22 and then dropped to 83.27 against the dollar, marking a 9 paise loss from the previous closing level. The day before, the rupee had settled 5 paise lower at 83.18 against the US dollar.
Anil Kumar Bhansali, Head of Treasury and Executive Director at Finrex Treasury Advisors LLP, mentioned that the rupee was sold off due to oil prices and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) likely buying dollars (about USD 1 billion) to control rupee appreciation before the month-end and the Lok Sabha election results. Bhansali added that the USD/INR pair is expected to trade within the range of 83.15/25 during the day.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which measures the strength of the US dollar against a basket of six currencies, was trading at 104.72, up by 0.11 percent. Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, rose by 0.21 percent to USD 84.40 per barrel.
In the domestic equity market, the 30-share BSE Sensex was trading 227.75 points, or 0.30 percent lower at 74,942.70 points. The broader NSE Nifty fell by 74.30 points, or 0.32 percent, to 22,813.85 points in initial trade.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net buyers in the capital markets on Tuesday, purchasing shares worth Rs 65.57 crore, according to exchange data.
