A sluggish domestic stock market and foreign capital outflows weighed on local units and limited propensity for appreciation, currency traders said.
Release Date – 11:30 AM, Thu – 12 December 22
Mumbai: The rupee strengthened 19 paise to 82.28 per dollar in early trade on Thursday, in line with its Asian peers, and crude oil prices slipped.
A sluggish domestic stock market and foreign capital outflows weighed on local units and limited propensity for appreciation, currency traders said.
In the interbank foreign exchange market, the domestic unit opened at 82.34 against the dollar, before rising further to 82.28, up 19 paise from the previous close.
On Wednesday, the rupee pared initial losses to end slightly higher at 82.47 against the dollar.
Meanwhile, the U.S. dollar index , which measures the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, rose 0.18% to 105.28.
Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, rose 0.95% to $77.90 a barrel.
On the domestic stock market, the 30-share BSE Sensex rose 35.72 points or 0.06 percent to 62,446.40. The broader NSE Nifty rose 13.15 points or 0.07 percent to 18,573.65.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net sellers in capital markets on Wednesday, dumping Rs 1,241.87 crore worth of shares, exchange data showed.
“The dollar is weaker across the board. DXY has fallen to 105.30 from Thursday’s high of 105.89. Asian currencies strengthened against the dollar,” the IFA Global Institute said in a research note.
RBI MPC raised the repo rate by 35 basis points to 6.25% on Wednesday.
“The governor said that further calibration of tightening is needed to break the persistence of core inflation, anchor inflation expectations and prevent second-round effects. This statement was seen as hawkish and led the market to price in another rate hike for the next policy 25 basis points,” the report added.
