Rupee falls 15 paise to close at 82.73 against US dollar

Mumbai, Feb 13 (PTI) The rupee fell by 15 paise to close at 82.73 (provisional) against the US currency on Monday, weighed down by gains in the greenback in the overseas markets and a muted trend in domestic equities.

Firm crude oil prices further dented investor sentiments, forex traders said.

At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened at 82.68 against the greenback, and fell to an intra-day low of 82.77. It finally settled at 82.73 (provisional), down 15 paise over its previous close.

In the previous session on Friday, the rupee settled at 82.58 against the dollar.

According to Anuj Choudhary – Research Analyst at Sharekhan by BNP Paribas, the Indian rupee depreciated on a weak tone in Asian markets and a strong dollar.

Traders also pared their positions ahead of CPI data which is expected a tad higher from the previous month’s reading. However, a weak start to crude oil on Monday cushioned the downside.

“We expect the rupee to trade with a negative bias amid risk aversion in global markets and rising US dollar. Sustained outflows by foreign investors may also mount downside pressure on the domestic currency,” Choudhary said.

Traders may remain cautious ahead of inflation data from India today and US tomorrow. USD-INR spot price is expected to trade in a range of Rs 82.20 to Rs 83.30, Choudhary added.

The dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.15 per cent higher at 103.78.

“Dollar strengthened on risk aversion in global markets amid expectations of a hawkish Fed and economic slowdown in the UK,” Choudhary said.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude futures declined 1.19 per cent to USD 85.36 per barrel.

The 30-share BSE Sensex ended 250.86 points or 0.41 per cent lower at 60,431.84, while the broader NSE Nifty declined 85.60 points or 0.48 per cent to 17,770.90.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net buyers in the capital markets on Friday as they purchased shares worth Rs 1,458.02 crore, according to exchange data.