Rupee Opens Stronger As US Dollar Eases

Rupee opened stronger at 85.78 against the greenback, according to Bloomberg. The local currency strengthened by 4 paise against the dollar. It had closed at Rs 85.82 on Monday.

"Indian rupee which made a fresh closing low of 85.82 on constant dollar demand from FPIs who were sellers of equity yesterday is set to open at 85.75 on some losses by the dollar index. The rupee had risen up to 85.58 in yesterday's NDF trade but has not been able to sustain the rally as Trump denied the report that he was going with tariffs only on critical sectors," Anil Kumar Bhansali, head of treasury and executive director of Finrex Treasury Advisors LLP, said earlier.

Bhansali expects the rupee to trade in Rs 85.65 to 85.90 range on Tuesday with exporters on the watchful side for hedging. The dollar is still a 'buy on dips' for importers while importers are advised to buy dollar dips or trigger a stop loss of Rs 85.50.

Dollar Index And Crude Oil

The dollar traded near one-week low versus major peers as traders considered whether Donald Trump's tariffs will be less aggressive than promised, though Trump has promptly denied them as fake news. This brought the dollar back to 108.36 from a low of 107.74 yesterday.

US Dollar Index stood at 108.32 and was 0.07% up. While Brent Crude Oil was at $76.24 and was down 0.06%.

"The dollar index had gone up to 109.58 for the first time since November - 22 on January 2 in response to Trump's promised fiscal stimulus, reduced regulation and higher tariffs to boost growth," according to Bhansali.