Mumbai: The rupee rose 22 paise to close at 85.50 against the greenback on Friday on the back of sustained inflow of foreign funds and firm domestic equity markets.
Lower level of American currency index also favoured the Indian unit though an uptrend in crude oil prices capped its gain, forex traders said.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) purchased equities worth Rs 1,397.02 crore on a net basis on Friday, according to exchange data. This inflow came on the heels of a net buying of equities worth Rs 12,594.38 crore on Thursday.
At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 85.50 against the dollar and traded in the range of 85.43-85.65 before settling at 85.50, up 22 paise from its previous close.
The local unit rose 36 paise to close at 85.72 against the US dollar on Thursday.
“FII inflows and falling dollar index allowed the rupee to move higher. The RBI is also buying the dips to liquidate its month-end positions,” Anil Kumar Bhansali, Head of Treasury and Executive Director, Finrex Treasury Advisors LLP, said.
“The Trump tariff’s date of July 9 is fast approaching and… market remains gripped with uncertainty. Therefore, there is a chance of rupee hitting 86 next week,” he said.
The dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, inched up 0.10 per cent to 97.24 after declining earlier in the day.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, went up 0.72 per cent to USD 68.22 per barrel in futures trade after declining in the previous session.
Meanwhile, in the domestic equity market, Sensex climbed 303.03 points to settle at 84,058.90, while Nifty rose 88.80 points to 25,637.80.
According to Anuj Choudhary – Research Analyst at Mirae Asset Sharekhan, the US dollar fell on disappointing GDP data from the US. However, a slight recovery in crude oil prices capped sharp gains. “USD-INR spot price is expected to trade in a range of Rs 85.15 to Rs 85.80.”
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday said India’s forex reserves dropped by USD 1.01 billion to USD 697.93 billion during the week ended June 20. In the previous reporting week, the reserves had jumped by USD 2.29 billion to USD 698.95 billion.
‘India’s Balance of Payments during the Fourth Quarter (January-March) of 2024-25’ released by Reserve Bank of India showed the country recorded a current account surplus of USD 13.5 billion or 1.3 per cent of GDP in March quarter 2024-25 as compared to USD 4.6 billion in the year-ago period mainly on account of surge in services exports and higher remittances.
However, on annual basis, the current account was in deficit at USD 23.3 billion (0.6 per cent of GDP) during 2024-25.
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