Rupee depreciates 26 paise to close at 79.82 against US dollar

Mumbai: The Indian rupee (INR) declined by 26 paise to close at 79.82 (provisional) against the US dollars (USD) on Friday tracking Asian peers and strong dollar demand from importers.

At the interbank foreign exchange market, the domestic currency opened at 79.63 per dollar. It hovered in a range of 79.61 to 79.83 during the session.

The domestic unit finally settled at 79.82, down 26 paise over its previous close of 79.56. Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.33 per cent lower at 109.32.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, rose by 2.10 per cent to USD 94.30 per barrel ahead of the meeting of oil cartel Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and other producers which are likely to discuss output cuts.

“Taking cues from the regional currencies, the rupee depreciated against the American dollar. The risk-off moods and higher crude oil prices also weighed on the local unit,” said Dilip Parmar, Research Analyst, HDFC Securities.

Parmar further said that technically, spot USD-INR back above the short-term moving averages while the oscillators remained sideways indicating range-bound trades in the near term. The pair is having resistance at 80.13 and support at 79.20.

On the domestic equity market front, key stock indices closed almost flat in a volatile trade. The BSE Sensex ended 36.74 points or 0.06 per cent higher at 58,803.33 while the broader NSE Nifty declined 3.35 points or 0.02 per cent to 17,539.45.

Foreign institutional investors turned net sellers in the capital market on Thursday as they offloaded shares worth Rs. 2,290.31 crore, as per exchange data.

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