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The rupee gained 4 paise to close at 74.88 (provisional) against the US dollar on Friday despite volatile domestic equities, as IPO-related inflows and some pullback in crude oil prices supported the local unit.
At the interbank forex market, the domestic unit opened at 74.78 against the greenback and witnessed an intra-day high of 74.74 and a low of 74.98 during the day’s trade. It finally ended at 74.88 a dollar.
On Thursday, the rupee had settled at 74.92 against the US currency.
The dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, advanced 0.22 per cent to 93.55.
This week remained relatively calmer even after volatile domestic equities, however retreat of crude oil and dollar index from high added tailwind in rupee, said Dilip Parmar, Research Analyst, HDFC Securities.
“With multiple IPOs lined up in coming weeks, dollar supply looks huge but at the same time, weakness in equities could limit the price action within range,” Parmar said.
The downside as well as upside remains capped, with the market heading towards a holiday truncated week.
“From the level front, spot USDINR is likely to consolidate in the range of 74.70 to 75.20,” Parmar said.
On the domestic equity market front, the BSE Sensex fell 677.77 points or 1.13 per cent to end at 59,306.93, while the broader NSE Nifty tanked 185.60 points or 1.04 per cent to 17,671.65.
Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, rose 0.21 per cent to USD 84.50 per barrel.
Foreign institutional investors were net sellers in the capital market Thursday as they offloaded shares worth Rs 3,818.51 crore, as per exchange data.
