Rupee trades in narrow range against US dollar in early trade

Mumbai, May 13 (PTI) The rupee was trading in a narrow range against the US dollar in early trade on Monday, tracking a weak trend in domestic equities and strong American currency.

Forex traders said with foreign investors buying US dollars and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) selling the greenback, the USD/INR pair is expected to remain range-bound with a bit of a weakness bias.

At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local unit moved in a narrow range. It opened at 83.51 against the American currency and touched 83.52 in initial trade, registering a fall of 1 paisa from its previous close.

On Friday, the rupee closed at 83.51 against the American currency.

“Despite short-term pressures on the rupee, major global factors such as the Israel-Iran conflict and oil prices are normalising. Consequently, considering internal factors like the Lok Sabha elections passing, the rupee is poised to align with its robust fundamentals,” CR Forex Advisors MD-Amit Pabari said.

The downside risk for the rupee is limited at 83.60. It is anticipated to appreciate to levels between 83 and 83.20 in the near term, with medium-term appreciation ranging from 82.80 to 82.50, Pabari added.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, was at 105.32, higher by 0.02 per cent.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, fell 0.31 per cent to USD 82.53 per barrel.

On the domestic equity market, the 30-share BSE Sensex was trading 414.63 points, or 0.57 per cent lower at 72,249.84 points. The broader NSE Nifty was down 105.60 points, or 0.48 per cent, to 21,949.60 points.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the capital markets on Friday as they offloaded shares worth Rs 2,117.50 crore, according to exchange data.

Meanwhile, after three consecutive weeks of drop, India’s forex reserves increased by USD 3.668 billion to USD 641.59 billion in the week ended May 3, the RBI said on Friday.

The overall kitty dropped USD 2.412 billion to USD 637.922 billion for the previous week ended April 26.