Rupee Inches Higher To Settle At One-Week High Of 74.88 Against Dollar

The rupee gained marginally by four paise against the US dollar on Friday, October 29, to settle at a one-week high of 74.88 despite volatile domestic equities. At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local unit opened at 74.78 against the dollar and registered an intra-day high of 74.74. It witnessed a low of 74.98. In an early trade session, the domestic unit rose 15 paise to 74.77 against the greenback.

On a weekly basis, the domestic currency gained two paise against the American currency. The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, advanced 0.22 per cent to 93.55.

Mr Amit Pabari, MD, CR Forex:

''Domestically, equities had one of their worst days in 2021 as they slummed by almost two per cent yesterday. FIIs sold almost Rs. 3,800 crore in a single day. Against this, DIIs failed to support the fall. Probably, their funds might have been blocked or diverted ahead of a slew of IPOs.

Now, the ‘Divergence' story seems to reverse as US equities are hitting all-time high and Indian stocks are correcting down. As flows on account of fresh issuance are likely to remain high, it would be interesting to watch, for how long those fund stays in the market.''
 

Emkay Global Financial Services, Currency Desk:

“This week USDINR spot is backing and filling in between 74.75-74.20, and is about to end the month on a positive note. Next week is a truncated for Indian market but is eventful for the crosses amid FOMC, BOE monetary policies and the US NFP data.

There are more chances for the Fed to announce the tapering next week, to start the process in mid-Nov or Dec, thus ahead of the outcome volatility in USDINR will continue and keep USDINR afloat. Meanwhile, IPO related inflows and some pullback in crude oil prices may act as a strong resistance in USDINR spot. So we expect USDINR to broadly trade in between 74.50-75.45.”

Domestic Equity Markets Today:

On the domestic equity market front, the BSE Sensex fell 677.77 points or 1.13 per cent to end at 59,306.93, while the broader NSE Nifty decline 185.60 points or 1.04 per cent to 17,671.65.

Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Equity Research (Retail), Kotak Securities:

“Market slipped further on heavy correction as stretched valuations and mixed cues in other Asian indices gave investors another reason to trim their holdings. The benchmark indices witnessed sharp selloff after breaching 18170/61000 support level.

Following back to back correction, benchmark Nifty has formed a long bearish candle which clearly suggests continuation of weakness in the near future. We are of the view that the short term trend remains weak due to the oversold situation in the market.

The weekly trading set up suggests 17800 would be the immediate hurdle for Nifty. If it succeeds to trade above the same, we can expect a pullback rally up to 17920-18000-18070. On the flip side, below 17800, the correction wave may continue up to 17600-17500-17420 levels.''

According to exchange data, the foreign institutional investors were net sellers in the capital market Thursday as they offloaded shares worth Rs 3,818.51 crore. Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, rose 0.21 per cent to $ 84.50 per barrel.