Rupee Appreciates 58 Paise To Settle At 74.35 Against Dollar Amid Positive Domestic Equities

The rupee appreciated 58 paise against the US dollar on Friday, April 16, to settle at 74.35 (provisional), tracking improved risk appetite and positive domestic equities. At the interbank foreign exchange market, the domestic unit opened at 74.76 against the dollar and registered an intra-day high of 74.28. It witnessed a low of 74.7 during the session. In an early trade session, the local unit gained 22 paise to 74.71 against the greenback. 

The rupee closed at 74.35 against the dollar, registering a rise of 58 paise over its previous closing. On Thursday, April 15, the local unit settled at 74.93 against the greenback. The dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, declined 0.09 per cent to 91.59. 

”Even this week, there has been a lot of chaos in the forex market. Traders were waiting for RBI to set the upper limit, which is 75.30-75.35, from where the USDINR spot reversed its uptrend… But the weakness in dollar and Fed’s willingness to tolerate more inflation will keep the USDINR spot lower and we expect it to trade in between 74-75.50 next week,” said Mr. Rahul Gupta, Head Of Research- Currency, Emkay Global Financial Services.

”The rupee open higher against the U.S currency, the spot rupee was quoting at 74.80 against 75.07, Technically support for USDINR Spot is 74.70 – 74.60 levels and below this level more weakness will come in the dollar, Resistance is shifted to 74.90 – 75.05 levels in coming session,” said Kshitij Purohit, Product Manager, Currency & Commodities at CapitalVia Global Research Limited.

”On the upper side, resistance may be tested in the range of 75.25-75.35 for upcoming sessions Dollar Index is trading below $92 level indicating for downside momentum will continue towards $91.70 levels,” he added. 

On the domestic equity market front, the BSE Sensex ended 28.35 points or 0.06 per cent higher at 48,832.03, while the broader NSE Nifty climbed 36.40 points or 0.25 per cent to 14,617.85. 

”Global markets have fared well this week with the S&P 500 again scaling new highs. In the US better-than-expected retails sales and jobless claims took US markets higher. Rebound in global growth and upbeat corporate earnings are keeping equity markets at elevated levels. The US 10 Yr bond yield is also slowly coming off from the recent rise which is also providing some relief to global equity markets,” said Rusmik Oza, Executive Vice President, Head of Fundamental Research at Kotak Securities.

According to exchange data, the foreign institutional investors were net buyers in the capital market as they purchased shares worth Rs 979.70 crore on April 15. Meanwhile, Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, rose 0.40 per cent to $ 67.21 per barrel.