Rupee Gains 10 Paise To Settle Higher At 73.15 Against Dollar

Rupee Vs Dollar Today: The rupee gained for the second straight day and rose 10 paise against the US dollar on Wednesday, January 13, to settle at 73.15 (provisional) supported by unabated foreign fund inflows and a weak American currency. At the interbank foreign exchange market, the domestic unit opened at 73.16 and registered an intra-day high of 73.10. It witnessed a low of 73.23. In an early trade session, the local unit rose 12 paise to 73.13 against the dollar. The rupee finally settled at 73.15, higher by 10 paise over its last close. On Tuesday, January 12, the rupee had closed at 73.25 against the American currency.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, rose 0.07 per cent to 90.15. “Right now the risk sentiments are stuck in the race of covid-cases and vaccine rollout. In the end vaccine will win but until then the fear of lockdown is hanging over the head. Locally, there are a lot of IPOs lined up this year, so overall downside in USDINR spot will retain,'' said Mr. Rahul Gupta, Head of Research- Currency, Emkay Global Financial Services.

''Lately, RBI intervention is seen around 73 zone, so USDINR spot will hover in 72.90-73 zone, with 73.50 being the immediate resistance. A break of 72.90-73 will push prices towards 72.75,'' he added. According to Saif Mukadam, Research Analyst, Sharekhan by BNP Paribas, the rupee traded with a positive bias on weakness in dollar and steady FII inflows.

"However, sharp gains were capped on surge in crude oil prices and worries over rising coronavirus cases across globe and tightened COVID-19 restrictions to curb the outbreak. Rupee may trade in the range of 72.85 to 73.60 in next couple of sessions," said Saif Mukadam.

On the domestic equity market front, the BSE Sensex ended 24.79 points or 0.05 per cent lower at 49,492.32, while the broader NSE Nifty advanced 1.40 points or 0.01 per cent to 14,564.85.  “The benchmark indices witnessed volatile trading session near its 14650/49700 resistance level. Today, the Nifty/Sensex opened on a strong note but due to tepid global cues and consistent selling pressure at higher levels, it corrected over 200/700 points from the day's high. However, in the late afternoon it trimmed some losses and finally closed near 14550/49500,'' said Shrikant Chouhan, Executive Vice President, Equity Technical Research at Kotak Securities

''On the domestic front, once again PSU Bank index outperformed, rallied over 3 percent whereas, profit booking was seen in selective pharma stocks. We are of the view that the bulls are still in total control but daily chart showing a temporary pause near 14650/49700, hence, traders may prefer caution near the resistance level,'' he added. 

According to provisional exchange data, the foreign institutional investors were net buyers in the capital market as they purchased shares worth Rs 571.47 crore on a net basis on January 12. Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, rose 0.18 per cent to $ 56.68 per barrel.