Rupee rises 8 paise to 83.29 against US dollar in early trade

Mumbai, Dec 1 (PTI) The rupee rose by 8 paise to 83.29 against the US dollar in early trade on Friday on the back of massive equity buying by foreign institutional investors and softening crude oil prices.

Positive cues from equity markets amid strong domestic macroeconomic data boosted the overall sentiment. Crude price retreated from the level of USD 84 to USD 80 per barrel as oil producing countries’ grouping OPEC+ announced no new target to reduce production for 2024, said forex traders.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened stronger at 83.29 against the dollar and touched the highest level of 83.25. It later traded at 83.29 against the greenback, registering a gain of 8 paise over its previous close.

The rupee settled 5 paise lower at 83.37 against the dollar on Thursday.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.09 per cent lower at 103.41.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude futures declined 0.47 per cent to USD 80.48 per barrel.

On the domestic equity market front, the BSE Sensex was trading 284.82 points or 0.43 per cent higher at 67,273.26, while the broader NSE Nifty rose 87.90 points or 0.44 per cent to 20,221.05.

Foreign institutional investors were net buyers in the capital market on Thursday as they purchased shares worth Rs 8,147.85 crore, according to exchange data.

According to the government data released on Thursday, India’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 7.6 per cent during July-September beat most estimates, including 6.5 per cent projected by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), retaining the country’s tag of the world’s fastest-growing major economy.

Also, another data released simultaneously showed that the output of eight key infrastructure sectors jumped 12.1 per cent in October 2023 against 0.7 per cent expansion in the year-ago period.

The government’s fiscal deficit at the end of October touched 45 per cent of the full-year budget estimate, as per the data released by the Controller General of Accounts (CGA).