Rupee Edges Higher By 7 Paise To Settle At 74.66 Against Dollar Amid Positive Domestic Equities

The rupee edged higher by seven paise against the US dollar on Tuesday, April 27, to settle at 74.66 tracking positive domestic equities. At the interbank foreign exchange market, the domestic unit opened at 74.65 against the dollar and registered an intra-day high of 74.51. It witnessed a low of 74.73. In an early trade session, the local unit edged higher by nine paise to 74.64 against the greenback. The rupee closed at 74.66 against the dollar, tracking a rise of seven paise over its previous closing. On Monday, April 26, the local unit settled at 74.73 against the greenback.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, climbed 0.20 per cent to 90.98.

”The currency pair’s lower level can be traced to the US dollar’s decline against major currencies and a downward change in US yields. With the rapid spread of covid infections and record death tolls in the second wave of the virus, the country is in a dire situation, and the local currency and stock market are likely to respond much more forcefully than market participants have seen so far,” said Kshitij Purohit, Lead International and Commodities at CapitalVia Global Research Limited.

The 10-year US yield fell from a high of 1.7 percent to 1.5 percent today. The interest rate difference between the 10-year US T-bond yield and the 10-year yields on JGB bonds, and UK bonds shrank as US yields fell, causing major currencies to gain ground against the dollar over the last two weeks,” he added.

”Yesterday there was a flow from an MNC which kept it in a range as importers have started to slow down on their imports. Exporters to sell in the upper end of the range and importers to buy on dips,” said Anil Kumar Bhansali, Head- Treasury, Finrex Treasury Advisors.

On the domestic equity market front, the BSE Sensex ended 557.63 points or 1.15 per cent higher at 48,944.14, while the broader NSE Nifty rose 168.05 points or 1.16 per cent to 14,653.05.

”After a few days of the lackluster movement, a positive trend in today’s market activity. The expected levels of the market are likely to be in the range of 14500 and 14800, and it’s going to be crucial for the short-term market scenario to sustain above the 14500 Nifty50 Index level. The momentum indicators like RSI and MACD support the upside move and indicate potential upside from the current market level,” said Ashis Biswas, Head of Technical Research at CapitalVia Global Research Limited.

According to exchange data, the foreign institutional investors were net sellers in the capital market as they offloaded shares worth Rs 1,111.89 crore on April 26. Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, rose 0.34 per cent to $ 65.87 per barrel.