Falling for the second day, the rupee on Thursday weakened by 14 paise to close at 54.46 tracking losses in Indian stocks amid sustained dollar demand from importers.
The rupee appreciated for the second straight day to close 14 paise higher at 54.54 on optimism that government would get Parliamentary approval to FDI in multi-brand retail, leading to big inflow of dollars.
Forex dealers said weakness in local equities and a firm dollar overseas against other currencies also weighed on the rupee.
Due to weakness in domestic equities and strong dollar demand, rupee shed its month and a half high against follar.
Strengthening of euro against the dollar in overseas market and a higher opening in the equity market supported the rupee.
The rally is being fuelled by across-the-board buying.
Bearish domestic equities restricted the rupee rise.
The US dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, was 0.38 per cent lower at 95.41.
Extending losses for the third straight session, the rupee today lost 28 paise to end at an over one-week low of 53.50, due to sustained dollar demand from importers amid sluggish local stocks.
Sustained foreign funds did manage to arrest the fall to some extent.
Forex dealers said sustained foreign fund flows also aided the trading sentiment in rupee's favour.
Forex dealers said a firm rise in local equities and sluggish dollar overseas also boosted the sentiment in rupee's favour.
Other prominent gainers included Tata Steel, Sun Pharma, Infosys, Tech Mahindra, IndusInd Bank, HCL Tech, ICICI Bank, HUL and HDFC Bank. NSE Nifty rose 86.40 points or 0.76 per cent to close at 11,503.35.
Forex dealers said firm local equities, signs of consistent capital inflows and sustained dollar selling by exporters also boosted the rupee sentiment.
The rupee strengthened by 36 paise to 54.48 against the US dollar in early trade today at the Interbank Foreign Exchange on selling of American currency by exporters and banks.
HCL Tech was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rising around 4 per cent, followed by Kotak Bank, Infosys, Reliance Industries, UltraTech Cement and Tech Mahindra. On the other hand, Titan, Sun Pharma, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, SBI and Bajaj Finance were among the main laggards.
Exchange-traded currency derivatives volumes are likely to drop in view of new Reserve Bank of India (RBI) rules, casting a cloud over further participation of retail investors and proprietary traders. There are concerns that existing positions without any underlying exposure will need to be liquidated. Also, weighed down by dollar demand from local oil companies and weakness in its Asian peers, the rupee on Wednesday (April 3) ended at a new closing low of 83.44 versus the US currency.
Continued dollar selling by exporters and some banks on hopes of further fall in dollar value overseas also aided the rupee rise.
The rupee fell by 34 paise to 55.99 against the US dollar in early trade at the Interbank Foreign Exchange market today as the American currency gained against other currencies overseas.
After an extremely stable 2023, the Indian rupee started 2024 on a promising note and has turned out to be the best-performing Asian currency so far in January, appreciating 0.1 per cent despite 2 per cent rise in the dollar index. All other Asian currencies depreciated by around 1.4-4 per cent during the month. The local currency regained its ground against the greenback on the back of foreign portfolio inflows, said market participants.
IndusInd Bank was the top loser in the Sensex pack, tanking over 8 per cent, followed by Bharti Airtel, Tata Steel, ICICI Bank, M&M, Maruti, Axis Bank and ONGC. On the other hand, Kotak Bank, Infosys and TCS were the gainers.
The rupee closes 12 paise down against the dollar.
The rupee on Monday dropped by 30 paise to 54.72 against the US dollar in late morning trade, due to on fresh demand for the American currency from banks and importers despite a weak global trend.
According to Nouveau-Nikolajsen, economic uncertainty and currency fluctuations have led to growth in the global forex market, where the daily turnover is estimated at $4 trillion, three times as much as the rest of the financial markets combined.
A positive close in Indian stocks and fresh dollar selling by exporters at higher levels also helped the rupee to remain somewhat stable near its overnight close, forex dealers said.
Tata Steel was the top loser in the Sensex pack, shedding over 4 per cent, followed by Bharti Airtel, Axis Bank, ONGC, SBI and Sun Pharma.
ONGC was the top loser in the Sensex pack, shedding around 3 per cent, followed by IndusInd Bank, PowerGrid, Axis Bank, HCL Tech, NTPC and ITC. On the other hand, UltraTech Cement, TCS, Tata Steel, Titan and HDFC were among the gainers.
M&M was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rallying around 6 per cent, followed by PowerGrid, Tata Steel, IndusInd Bank, Reliance Industries, HCL Tech, ONGC and Infosys. On the other hand, Bajaj Auto, Asian Paints, Sun Pharma, HDFC and Nestle India were among the laggards.
Companies are trying to clean up their balance-sheets and make provisions for forex losses as they think the disclosures will not have a major bearing on their valuations, which are already down.
'Rhetoric and chest-thumping are running high on India's recent growth record.'
'But will the giant waves developing elsewhere allow us to sail smoothly into fair winds?' asks Debashis Basu.
Tech Mahindra was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rising around 2 per cent, followed by Bharti Airtel, Maruti, ICICI Bank, SBI, HDFC Bank, Asian Paints and Reliance Industries.
IndusInd Bank was the top laggard in the Sensex pack, falling over 5 per cent, followed by HDFC, Axis Bank, PowerGrid, SBI, Bajaj Finserv and Bharti Airtel.
UltraTech Cement was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rising over 3 per cent, followed by Kotak Bank, ICICI Bank, Asian Paints and Tata Steel.
ICICI Bank was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, soaring over 6 per cent, followed by SBI, HDFC, PowerGrid, Sun Pharma, IndusInd Bank, Titan, Bajaj Auto and HDFC Bank. On the other hand, NTPC, Reliance Industries, Nestle India, HCL Tech and Infosys were among the laggards.
IndusInd Bank was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rallying around 7 per cent, followed by ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, HDFC, Bharti Airtel, SBI, Bajaj Finance and HDFC Bank. On the other hand, RIL was the top laggard, crashing over 8 per cent. HCL Tech, TCS, Tata Steel, Asian Paints, Bajaj Auto, Maruti and UltraTech Cement also ended in the red.
'It was because of the huge selloff in the Indian equities that the rupee fell so sharply against the dollar on Friday.'
What the reserves offer for now is improved import coverage of about 13 months, almost double the 2013 level of less than seven months. And, ammunition to arrest a rapid rupee slide, says Anup Roy.
The rupee extended its fall for the fourth consecutive day by losing another 6 paise to hit a fresh one-month low of 62.31.
Falling for the first time in three days, the rupee washed out initial gains to end four paise lower at 62.57 today on caution ahead of US non-farm payrolls data and sustained capital outflows from Indian markets.
The rupee on Friday again breached the 56-mark by losing 31 paise to 56.15 against the US dollar in early trade to hit a fresh one-week low, due to strong demand for the American currency from banks and importers.
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