Rupee falls 6 paise to close at 82.73 against US dollar

Mumbai, Aug 3 (PTI) The rupee fell by 6 paise to settle at 82.73 (provisional) against the US dollar on Thursday on weak domestic equities and a stronger greenback in the overseas market.

Sustained foreign fund outflows and firm crude oil prices further dented sentiments, forex traders said.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic unit opened at 82.71 against the dollar and finally ended the day at 82.73 (provisional), registering a fall of 6 paise from its previous close.

During the session, the local unit touched a peak of 82.66 and hit the lowest level of 82.81. On Wednesday, the rupee had settled at 82.67 against the dollar.

“US Dollar gained on safe-haven buying and upbeat jobs data. US ADP data released Wednesday was better-than-expected at 324,00 vs the forecast of 190,000, showing a strong jobs market,” Anuj Choudhary – Research Analyst at Sharekhan by BNP Paribas.

However, upbeat domestic macroeconomic data from India cushioned the downside.

India’s services sector growth touched a 13-year high in July. The seasonally adjusted S&P Global India Services PMI Business Activity Index rose from 58.5 in June to 62.3 in July, signalling the sharpest increase in output since June 2010.

“We expect the rupee to trade with a negative bias as the strong dollar and risk aversion in global markets may continue to mount downside pressure on the rupee,” Choudhary said.

Selling pressure by foreign investors may put further pressure on the domestic currency. However, better-than-expected domestic macroeconomic data may support Rupee at lower levels, Choudhary added.

“Traders may take cues from ISM services PMI, weekly unemployment claims, and factory order data from the US. Investors may remain cautious ahead of the Bank of England’s monetary policy,” Choudhary said, adding that “We expect the USDINR spot to trade in the range of 82.30 to 83.30 in the near term.”

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, rose 0.13 per cent to 102.68.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, declined by 0.23 per cent to USD 83.01 per barrel.

On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share BSE Sensex closed 542.10 points or 0.82 per cent lower at 65,240.68 points. The broader NSE Nifty fell 144.90 points or 0.74 per cent to close at 19,381.65 points.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the capital markets on Wednesday as they offloaded shares worth Rs 1,877.84 crore, according to exchange data.