Rupee Regains 11 Paise Against USD On Easing Crude

The Indian rupee on Tuesday reclaimed some lost ground, rising 11 paise to close at 71.82 against the US dollar as receding fears of a larger conflict in the Middle East helped crude oil prices ease. Besides, a rebound in the domestic equity markets also supported the rupee. At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened on a positive note at 71.73 against the US currency.

During the session, the domestic currency stayed strong and swung between a low of 71.87 and a high of 71.68. It finally closed at 71.82, showing a gain of 11 paise over its previous closing. The Indian unit had slipped 13 paise to 71.93 against the greenback on Monday.

The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, rose 0.12 per cent to 96.78. Brent futures, the global oil benchmark, fell 0.62 per cent to USD 68.48 per barrel. Experts are of the view that oil prices retreated as major crude exporter Iran stayed away from retaliation after the US assassination of a top Iranian general.

On a net basis, foreign institutional investors offloaded equities worth Rs 682.23 crore, while domestic institutional investors bought shares worth Rs 311.19 crore on Tuesday, data available with stock exchanges showed.

The 10-year government bond yield was at 6.55 per cent. Financial Benchmark India Private Ltd (FBIL) set the reference rate for the rupee/dollar at 72.0919 and for rupee/euro at 80.4531.

The reference rate for rupee/British pound was fixed at 94.2890 and for rupee/100 Japanese yen at 66.74. "Rupee traded volatile in range of 71.68-71.87 during the day with both side moves on news of Iranian assessing 13 retaliation scenarios against the US to take revenge.

With 'crude oil already on boil', any steps Iran takes shall hamper the markets globally and directly rupee shall have the volatile moves up ahead," said Jateen Trivedi, Senior Research Analyst (Commodity & Currency) at LKP Securities. "72.00-72.25 shall keep acting as a crucial barrier for USD/INR pair whereas 71.60-71.40 as supports," he said.

On the equity market front, the BSE benchmark Sensex ended 192.84 points, or 0.47 per cent, higher at 40,869.47. While, the broader Nifty rose 59.90 points, or 0.50 per cent, to finish at 12,052.95.