Fresh selling of dollars by banks and exporters on the back of good foreign capital inflows helped the rupee
The rupee had dropped 18 paise against the dollar on Thursday.
A rising rupee is a tailwind for dollar investors.
Foreign investors pumped in Rs 11,119 crore in the Indian equities in December, making it the second consecutive monthly inflow, despite increasing concerns over the re-emergence of Covid-19 cases in some parts of the world. However, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) have turned cautious in recent days. The inflow in December was much lower compared to Rs 36,239 crore invested by FPIs in the month of November, data with the depositories showed.
The rupee opened slightly higher by Rs 67.24 against Tuesday's closing level of Rs 67.26 per dollar.
'The market will focus on the fact that India does have strong earnings growth this year.'
Trends in the global markets, trading activity of foreign investors and announcement of domestic macroeconomic data are the major factors that would drive investors' sentiment in a holiday-shortened week ahead, analysts said. Benchmark indices had a record-breaking rally in the past week driven by impressive GDP data. Equity markets would remain closed on Friday for Mahashivratri.
Equity markets would take cues from domestic inflation data announcement, global trends and trading activity of foreign investors in a holiday-shortened week ahead, analysts said. Markets would remain closed on Tuesday for 'Diwali Balipratipada'. "As we enter a truncated week with Muhurat trading on Sunday, global cues will play a pivotal role in shaping the market direction.
The dollar's strength against other currencies overseas limited the rupee's gain.
The dollar gained against other currencies overseas.
Without factoring in the rupee-dollar exchange rate, the index has been touching new all-time highs repeatedly.
Overseas, the US dollar hovered near a three-week low.
The rupee had hit an intra-day low of 61.6750 on Friday, its lowest level since Oct. 17.
The dollar index was trading marginally higher by 0.06 per cent.
The biggest risk to India's growth outlook is an escalation of geopolitical tensions, especially if these tensions spread to the Asian region, RBI Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) member Jayanth R Varma said on Wednesday. Varma, in an interview to PTI, said that inflation and inflationary expectations appear to be moderating and high inflation will certainly not become the 'norm' in the country. He is cautiously optimistic about the Indian economy as after the pandemic abated, consumption demand has begun to recover though the recovery is uneven across sectors and industries.
Stock markets would take cues from the biggest event of the week -- the US Fed interest rate decision, besides tracking the trends in global markets and trading activity of foreign investors, analysts said. Last week, a heavy decline in smallcap, midcap firms, foreign fund outflows and elevated crude oil prices in the international market dented investors' sentiments. Experts said equity markets may remain volatile in the near-term amid a host of global central bank's monetary policy decisions lined up during the week.
The rupee resumed higher at 67.77 per dollar as against last Friday's closing level of 67.78.
The domestic currency has already dropped 44 paise, or 0.67 per cent, in the previous two sessions.
PowerGrid was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rallying over 6 per cent, followed by Maruti, ICICI Bank, HDFC, Kotak Bank, Axis Bank, and Reliance Industries.
The local currency had surged 35 paise to 63.65 in Thursday's trade.
Quarterly earnings from IT majors Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Infosys, macroeconomic data announcements, global trends and trading activity of foreign investors would guide the movement in the equity market this week, analysts said. Movement of global oil benchmark Brent crude and the rupee will also influence trading in the markets. "All eyes will be on the beginning of corporate performance for the second quarter of the current fiscal year. TCS is slated to unveil its Q2 results on October 11, with HCL Technologies and Infosys following suit on October 12.
After falling 10 per cent against the greenback in 2022, the rupee staged a comeback in 2023 as it appreciated, albeit marginally, on the back of strong portfolio inflows, in addition to timely intervention by the Reserve Bank of India. The Indian unit appreciated by 0.16 percent in six months until June 28. The rupee stood in third place in terms of appreciation against the US dollar among the 12 Asian currencies and in 12th place of the 23 emerging-market currencies.
The rupee resumed lower at 64.20 per dollar.
In forward market, premium for dollar continued to fall due to persistent receivings from exporters.
Stock markets are likely to remain range-bound in this holiday-shortened week amid a lack of any major domestic triggers, analysts said. Stock indices may also face volatility during the week amid the monthly derivatives expiry on Thursday. Equity markets would remain closed on Monday for Christmas.
After withdrawing record funds in 2021-22, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) continued their sell-off in the last fiscal too and pulled out Rs 37,631 crore from Indian equities amid aggressive rate hikes by central banks globally. The outflow trend is likely to reverse in the current financial year since India has the best growth potential in the financial year 2023-24 (FY24), VK Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist at Geojit Financial Services, said. Market analysts believe that FPI flows in the current financial year would be decided by a host of factors, such as the US Federal Reserve's policy stance, oil prices movement and development in the geopolitical situation.
Among the Sensex firms, Maruti, NTPC, Tata Motors, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Reliance Industries, JSW Steel, ITC and Mahindra & Mahindra were the major laggards. Bajaj Finance, Larsen & Toubro, Bajaj Finserv and Titan were among the gainers.
The rupee depreciated 20 paise to close at 63.84 in Monday's trade.
The impact of currency depreciation can also be mitigated by holding a portion of your investment portfolio in dollar-denominated assets.
Snapping its two-day losing streak, the rupee on Monday bounced back by 9 paise to 66.67 against the US dollar.
It hopes to attract billions of dollars in investment by this move, and may ease some restrictions on foreign inflows.
The dollar was weak against major world currencies.
The dollar index was down 0.01 per cent at 95.86 against a basket of six currencies in early trade
Indian rupee, which earlier this week touched an all-time low, is likely to remain under pressure and may test new levels as a fallout of the US Federal Reserve indicating more interest rate hikes, experts said. The aggressive rate hikes will dampen demand and increase the possibility of a recession in the US. This could accelerate the pace of capital outflows, weaken the rupee and raise the threat of imported inflation.
Forex dealers said besides dollar's gains against other currencies overseas, increased demand from oil importers for the US currency put pressure on the rupee.
Global trends, WPI inflation data for April and the ongoing quarterly earnings of corporates would be the major driving factors for the stock markets, analysts said. Investors would also keep a tab on the movement of foreign institutional investors who are on a selling spree in the domestic equity market for the past many days. "Inflation concern and monetary tightening across the globe are key concerns for the equity markets. "Equity markets are under the strong grip of bears however they look extremely oversold and due for a pullback rally.
The rupee had gained 16 paise to close at over one-month high of 62.16 on Monday against the American currency on persistent selling of dollars by banks and exporters on hopes of capital inflows into domestic markets.
Global markets trends, inflation, release of industrial output data and quarterly earnings will dictate movement of the equity benchmarks this week, analysts said, adding that volatility might continue amid slew of announcements of macroeconomic data at the global level too. Moreover, foreign fund movement, crude oil prices and trend in rupee would also act as major drivers for the equity market, they added. "The direction of global equity markets along with movement in dollar index and crude oil prices will continue to dominate while inflation numbers of the USA on May 11 and inflation and IIP numbers of India on May 12 will also cause volatility in the market," said Santosh Meena, head of research, Swastika Investmart Ltd.
Rupee rises by 16 paise against dollar on fresh selling.
The rupee had closed barely steady at 63.75 on Wednesday.
