Rupee falls by 30 paise to 69.80 on strong dollar, rising crude prices; sell-off in domestic equities adds pressure on domestic unit

Mumbai: The Indian rupee on Friday fell by another 30 paise to close at 69.80 against the US currency as strengthening greenback and rising crude oil prices kept investors cautious. Besides, weak Asian currencies and an intense sell-off in domestic equities also put pressure on the domestic currency. On a weekly basis, the rupee saw a fall of 34 paise. [caption id=“attachment_5114261” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters.[/caption] At the interbank foreign exchange (forex) market, the domestic currency opened higher at 69.55 per dollar, but lost ground during the day and fell to 69.85. The rupee finally settled at 69.80, down 30 paise over its previous close. The rupee had settled at 69.50 against the US dollar on Thursday. “The rupee weakened for a second day against US dollar, taking cues from the other Asian currencies,” said V K Sharma, head-PCG & capital market strategy, HDFC Securities. Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, climbed 0.11 percent to $61.38 per barrel. The dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, rose 0.10 percent to 97.11. Meanwhile, the 10-year government bond yield was at 6.92 percent on Friday. Sharma further said that the important event to watch out for the next week is US Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting, scheduled on 18 and 19 June. “Though Fed interest rate probability don’t expect any change in the June meeting, pricing a cut in July meet,” he said. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) remained net sellers in the capital markets, pulling out Rs 238.64 crore Friday, provisional data showed. Benchmark indices settled for the day in the negative territory. The BSE Sensex closed at 39,452.07, down by 289.29 points, or 0.73 percent. The wider NSE Nifty tumbled 90.75 points, or 0.76 percent, to finish at 11,823.30. Meanwhile, Financial Benchmark India Private Ltd (FBIL) set the reference rate for the rupee/dollar at 69.3579 and for rupee/euro at 78.3740. The reference rate for rupee/British pound was fixed at 88.0207 and for rupee/100 Japanese yen at 64.03.