Rupee falls 6 paise to close at 82.10 against US dollar

Mumbai, Jul 19 (PTI) The rupee depreciated by 6 paise to close at 82.10 (provisional) against the US dollar on Wednesday, weighed down by the rebound in the American currency in global markets and firm crude oil prices.

Traders said domestic equity benchmarks scaling all-time high levels and sustained foreign fund inflows boosted investor sentiments and restricted the depreciating bias.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic unit opened at 82.08 against the dollar and settled at 82.10 (provisional), down 6 paise from its previous close. During the day, the rupee touched a high of 82.07 and a low of 82.15 against the greenback.

On Tuesday, the rupee had settled at 82.04 against the dollar.

The dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, advanced 0.24 per cent to 100.17.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, advanced 0.50 per cent to USD 80.03 per barrel.

“In line with weak regional currencies, the rupee depreciated, after two days of gains as crude oil prices rebounded,” said Dilip Parmar, Research Analyst, HDFC Securities.

The dollar index also recovered as traders assessed the US rate outlook ahead of next week’s policy decision, Parmar said, adding that in the near term, spot USDINR is expected to trade within 82 to 82.30.

On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share BSE Sensex closed 302.30 points or 0.45 per cent higher at 67,097.44 points. The broader NSE Nifty advanced 83.90 points or 0.42 per cent at 19,833.15 points.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net buyers in the capital markets on Tuesday as they purchased shares worth Rs 2,115.84 crore, according to exchange data.