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The rupee consolidated in a narrow range and depreciated 3 paise to close at its all-time low of 83.66 (provisional) against the U.S. dollar on Friday, weighed down by strong American currency and muted trend in domestic equities.
Forex traders said weak domestic markets and elevated oil prices pressured the rupee, however, likely Reserve Bank of India (RBI) intervention prevented a sharp fall in the domestic unit.
At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local unit opened at 83.64, and touched an intra-day high of 83.60 and a low of 83.66 against the dollar during the trading session.
It finally settled at an all-time low level of 83.66 (provisional) against the American currency, registering a loss of 3 paise from its previous close.
On Thursday, the rupee depreciated 5 paise and settled at a new low of 83.63 against the U.S. dollar.
“We expect the rupee to trade with a slight negative bias on weak global markets and a strength in the U.S. Dollar. Weak Asian and European currencies may also weigh on the rupee,” Anuj Choudhary — Research Analyst at Sharekhan by BNP Paribas — said.
Choudhary said Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) inflows and any intervention by the RBI may support the rupee at lower levels. “USDINR spot price is expected to trade in a range of ₹83.40 to ₹83.90,” he said.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading higher by 0.16% at 104.33.
Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, were trading marginally lower by 0.07% at $85.05 per barrel.
In the domestic equity market, the 30-share BSE Sensex tumbled 738.81 points to settle at 80,604.65 and Nifty dropped 269.95 points to 24,530.90.
Meanwhile, the Asian currencies were all down after a fall in European currencies as the European Central Bank (ECB) kept rates unchanged in its meeting with a possibility of a cut in September, traders said.
FIIs were net buyers in the capital markets on Thursday as they purchased shares worth ₹5,483.63 crore, according to exchange data.
