Rupee Rises Slightly To 81.19 Per Dollar From Previous Close Of 81.26

The rupee held its ground on Tuesday, driven by a lower inflation reading and cues of an overnight pullback in oil prices and positive Asian currencies against the dollar, after a previous erratic session during which the domestic currency opened at the day's high and closed at the day's low.

Bloomberg showed the rupee was last changing hands at 81.1888 per dollar after opening at 81.1188, compared to its previous close of 81.26.

According to a Reuters report quoting a trader at a bank in Mumbai, the unwinding of long bets is putting pressure on the dollar in the offshore market. After Monday's erratic session and the price of oil should support the rupee, the trader added.

On Monday, the rupee began the day at a seven-week high of 80.52 before falling quickly to breach 81.00. Stop losses and a huge conglomerate's need for dollars drove the rupee's reversal.

PTI reported that the domestic currency rose 12 paise to 81.16 against the US dollar in early trade.

The Chinese yuan and the Korean won both made slight gains, which was generally good news for the rupee in Asian signals. That positivity for Asian currencies in the near term can be attributed to expectations that the US Federal Reserve will slow the pace of rate hikes.

A day after Fed Governor Christopher Waller indicated the endpoint of the cycle was "far off," Fed Vice Chair Lael Brainard stated that the US central bank will likely soon reduce its rate hikes but highlighted that they had "more work to do."

In other markets, oil continued to decline as worries over the near-term demand picture overshadowed indications of tighter supply as winter approaches. Gold remained stable.