The rupee appreciated 24 paise to close at 86.81(provisional) against the US dollar on positive domestic equities and weakness of the American currency in the overseas market.
| Photo Credit: Reuters
The rupee appreciated 24 paise to close at 86.81(provisional) against the US dollar on Monday (March 17, 2025) on positive domestic equities and weakness of the American currency in the overseas market.
Forex traders said the rupee traded with a slight positive bias on weakness in the US dollar and positive global markets. However, surge in crude oil prices capped sharp gains for the local unit.
At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 86.90 then touched an intraday high of 86.76 and a low of 86.90 against the greenback. The unit ended the session at 86.81 (provisional) against the dollar, registering a gain of 24 paise from its previous closing level.
On Thursday, the rupee surged 17 paise to settle at 87.05 against the US dollar.
Forex, stock markets were closed on Friday on the occasion of Holi festival.
“We expect the rupee to trade with a slight positive bias on weakness in the US dollar and positive global markets. However, the ongoing trade tariff issue and outflows by foreign investors may cap sharp upside,” Anuj Choudhary, Research Analyst at Mirae Asset Sharekhan, said.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.11 per cent lower at 103.60.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, rose 0.92 per cent to USD 71.23 per barrel in futures trade.
Choudhary further noted that traders may take cues from retail sales and Empire State Manufacturing Index data from the US. USDINR spot price is expected to trade in a range of 86.60 to 87.
In the domestic equity market, the 30-share BSE Sensex surged 341.04 points, or 0.46 per cent, to settle at 74,169.95, while the Nifty advanced 111.55 points, or 0.5 per cent, to close at 22,508.75 points.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 792.90 crore on a net basis on Thursday, according to exchange data.
Meanwhile, the country’s foreign exchange reserves increased USD 15.267 billion to USD 653.966 billion during the week ended March 7, according to the RBI.
The overall reserves had dropped by USD 1.781 billion to USD 638.698 billion in the previous week.
The reserves had been on a declining trend recently due to revaluation along with forex market interventions by the RBI to help reduce volatilities in the rupee.
On the domestic macroeconomic front, wholesale price inflation marginally rose to 2.38 per cent in February due to expensive manufactured food items like vegetables oil and beverages, government data released on Monday showed.
The Wholesale Price Index (WPI)-based inflation was 2.31 per cent in January.
Published – March 17, 2025 04:08 pm IST
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