Rupee moves in narrow range against US dollar in early trade

Mumbai: The rupee was trading in a narrow range in the morning session on Monday as positive sentiment over domestic equities rise and easing crude oil price were partially negated by a stronger American currency in the overseas market.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 82.08 against the dollar. It touched an early high of 82.05 in initial deals.

The rupee on Friday settled at 82.06 against the US dollar.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading at 101.80, down 0.02 per cent.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude futures declined 0.92 per cent to USD 80.91 per barrel.

On the domestic equity market front, BSE Sensex was trading 86.9 points or 0.15 per cent higher at 59,741.96 points while the broader NSE Nifty advanced 28.95 points or 0.16 per cent to 17,653 points.

Forex traders said significant foreign fund outflows also dented investor sentiments and weighed on the local unit.

Foreign institutional investors were net sellers in the capital market on Friday as they offloaded shares worth Rs 2,116.76 crore, as per exchange data.

“Overall, the widening trade deficit, lower forward premium, and expectation of a couple of more hikes by the US Fed will keep the rupee’s momentum on the depreciating side,” CR Forex Advisors MD Amit Pabari said.

Meanwhile, India’s forex reserves rose USD 1.657 billion to USD 586.412 billion as of April 14, marking their second consecutive week of increase, according to Reserve Bank of India data released on Friday.