Rupee falls 27 paise to close at 82.05 against US dollar

Mumbai, May 9 (PTI) The rupee fell 27 paise to close at 82.05 (provisional) against the US currency on Tuesday, weighed down by a strong greenback against major rivals overseas and a muted trend in domestic equities.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic unit opened at 81.84 against the dollar and slipped below the 82 levels to close at 82.05 (provisional), down 27 paise from its previous close.

During the day, the rupee witnessed a high of 81.83 and a low of 82.15 against the greenback.

On Monday, the rupee settled at 81.78 against the dollar.

The rupee depreciated and is at its lowest level in two and half weeks on the positive US Dollar index. However, soft crude oil prices cushioned the downside, said Anuj Choudhary – Research Analyst at Sharekhan by BNP Paribas.

The dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, rose 0.10 per cent to 101.47.

“US Dollar gained on risk aversion in global markets and as the Federal Reserve’s Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey shows banks continued to tighten credit conditions for business and households, but it was better than expected,” Choudhary added.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, declined 0.88 per cent to USD 76.33 per barrel.

“We expect the rupee to trade with a negative bias on the strong Dollar amid safe haven appeal on the back of risk aversion in global markets and worries over a global economic slowdown.

“However, softening crude oil prices at higher levels and FII inflows may support the rupee at lower levels. Investors may remain cautious ahead of inflation data from India and the US later this week. We expect USD/INR spot to trade in between 81.60 to 82.75 in the near term,” Choudhary added.

On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share BSE Sensex closed 2.92 points lower at 61,761.33. The broader NSE Nifty advanced 1.55 points to 18,265.95.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net buyers in the capital markets on Monday as they purchased shares worth Rs 2,123.76 crore, according to exchange data.