Paring Initial Losses, Rupee Gains To 72.65 Against Dollar

Rupee Vs Dollar Today: The rupee pared its initial losses to settle higher by nine paise against the US dollar on Thursday, February 18, at 72.65 (provisional) against the US dollar on Thursday, tracking losses in domestic equities. At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local unit opened lower at 72.76 tracking selloff in domestic equities and touched an intraday high of 72.65. It registered a low of 72.78 during the day. In an early trade session, the domestic unit opened flat, slipping two paise to 72.76 against the dollar. On Wednesday, February 17, the local unit had settled at 72.74 against the American currency.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, fell 0.26 per cent to 90.71. "The rising yields are putting positive pressure on dollar index and in turn on USDINR spot, but the uptrend will be limited as traders need more proof that the US economy is getting in better conditions," said Rahul Gupta, Head Of Research-Currency, Emkay Global Financial Services. He added that the optimism over additional stimulus will keep the spot below the psychological level of 73 zone.

On the domestic equity market front, the BSE Sensex tumbled 379.14 points or 0.73 per cent to end at 51,324.69 while the NSE Nifty slipped 89.95 points or 0.59 per cent to 15,118.95. 

“On the day of the weekly expiration of Index options, the benchmark index witnessed profit booking. Post muted opening the market registered selling pressure. The Nifty/Sensex opened at 15238.70/ 51903.86 and due to constant selling pressure, erased over 100 / 400 points. Among sectors, financial services, Auto and private banks witnessed selling pressure, while Nifty PSU Banks gained the most, rallied over 5.50 per cent. We are of the view that the market likely to continue the narrow range activity and PSU Banks and selective midcap and small-cap stocks will outperform in the near future,'' said Shrikant Chouhan, Executive Vice President, Equity Technical 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 1,008.20 crore on February 17. Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, advanced 0.28 per cent to $ 64.52 per barrel.