Rupee falls 12 paise to 82.68 against US dollar in early trade

Mumbai, Aug 25 (PTI) The rupee snapped its three-day rally and depreciated by 12 paise to 82.68 against the US dollar in early trade on Friday amid a firm American currency and subdued equity markets.

An upward movement in crude prices also weighed on the domestic currency even as the inflow of foreign funds capped the fall, forex traders said.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic unit opened weak at 82.60 and then tumbled to the lowest level of 82.69 against the greenback. It later traded at 82.68, registering a fall of 12 paise over its previous close.

On Thursday, the rupee appreciated by 16 paise to settle at 82.56 against the US dollar, making it the third straight day of gain.

Gaurang Somaiya, forex and bullion analyst, Motilal Oswal Financial Services said, “Rupee fell after opening stronger against the US dollar ahead of the Jackson Hole Symposium that begins today. Expectation is that the Fed Chairman could maintain a hawkish tone and that could extend gains for the greenback.”

Apart from US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s statement at the Jackson Hole Symposium, market participants will keep an eye on the US consumer sentiment index to be released on Friday.

“Better-than-expected economic data is likely to support the dollar. We expect the USDINR (Spot) to trade sideways and quote in the range of 82.30 and 82.80,” Somaiya said.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, rose 0.22 per cent to 104.21.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude futures climbed 0.19 per cent to USD 83.52 per barrel.

In the domestic equity market, the 30-share BSE Sensex was trading 248.65 points or 0.38 per cent lower at 65,003.69. The broader NSE Nifty declined 71.70 points or 0.37 per cent to 19,315.00.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net buyers in equities on Thursday as they purchased shares worth Rs 1,524.87 crore, according to exchange data.