Mumbai: The rupee appreciated 7 paise to settle at 88.59 against the US dollar on Monday, tracking firm domestic equity markets and lower global crude oil prices.
However, a strong greenback against major currencies overseas weighed on the domestic unit, according to forex traders.
The rupee gained following a positive trend in the domestic markets and optimism over trade tariffs. A fall in crude oil prices also supported the rupee. However, rising trade deficit capped sharp gains, Anuj Choudhary, Research Analyst, Mirae Asset ShareKhan, said.
“We expect the rupee to trade with a slight negative bias on dollar demand from importers and hedging demand, FII outflows, and trade deficit may also weigh on the rupee,” Choudhary added.
At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened at 88.70 and hit the intra-day high of 88.56 and the low of 88.73 against the dollar.
The unit finally closed at 88.59 against the dollar, registering a gain of 7 paise from its previous closing level.
On Friday, the rupee settled 4 paise higher at 88.66 against the US currency.
The first phase of the proposed India-US bilateral trade agreement (BTA) is ‘nearing closure’ and would address the hefty 50 per cent tariffs imposed by the Trump administration on Indian goods, in addition to resolving America’s market access issues, a government official said on Monday.
The rupee benefited from the optimism over a potential US-India trade breakthrough and the boost to domestic risk-on sentiment, Dilip Parmar, Research Analyst, HDFC Securities, said.
“While the fundamentals are supportive, the market remains cautious. We expect spot USD/INR to trade defensively, consolidating within the tight range of 88.40 to 88.80. The key to a decisive trend reversal now rests squarely on sustained foreign fund inflows,” Parmar said.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.29 per cent higher at 99.29.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading 0.81 per cent lower at USD 63.87 per barrel in futures trade.
On the domestic equity market front, Sensex soared 388.17 points or 0.46 per cent to settle at 84,950.95, while Nifty climbed 103.40 points or 0.40 per cent to 26,013.45.
The latest government data released on Monday showed India’s exports contracted 11.8 per cent to USD 34.38 billion in October. Imports, on the other hand, jumped 16.63 per cent to USD 76.06 billion, widening the trade deficit to USD 41.68 billion.
Foreign institutional investors bought equities worth Rs 442.17 crore on Monday, according to exchange data.
India’s exports contracted 11.8 per cent to USD 34.38 billion in October on account of the impact of high tariffs by the US, while the trade deficit widened to a record high of USD 41.68 billion, mainly due to a jump in gold imports.
According to government data released on Monday, the country’s imports jumped 16.63 per cent to USD 76.06 billion due to high inbound shipments of the yellow metal, silver, cotton raw/waste, fertiliser, and sulphur.
In September, the trade gap widened to USD 31.15 billion, the highest in over a year.
While gold imports rose about 200 per cent to USD 14.72 billion, silver rose 528.71 per cent to USD 2.71 billion during October.
Crude oil imports dipped to USD 14.8 billion in October from USD 18.9 billion in the same month last year.
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