Rupee slips 3 paise to 74.18 per USD
Mumbai: The rupee depreciated by 3 paise to close at 74.18 against the US dollar on Tuesday as higher crude oil prices and a stronger greenback overseas weighed on sentiment.
The rise in crude oil prices had a negative impact on the domestic unit, but robust domestic equities supported the rupee and restricted the fall, experts said.
At the interbank foreign exchange market, the domestic currency opened higher at 74.04 a dollar, but could not hold the momentum and finally settled 3 paise lower at 74.18.
During the session, the local unit reached a high of 74.02 and touched 74.30 at the lower end.
On Monday, the rupee had lost 7 paise to close at 74.15 against the US dollar.
The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, strengthened 0.17 percent to 92.87.
Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, rose 1.34 percent to USD 42.97 per barrel.
In the equity markets, the 30-share BSE Sensex rose 680.22 points or 1.60 percent to close at its lifetime peak of 43,277.65.
The broader NSE Nifty too ended at a record 12,631.10, up 170.05 points or 1.36 percent.
"Rupee traded weak after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) intervened in spot and then paid in forward to neutralize liquidity a kind of swap seen when the market needs to balanced.
"The range on rupee remains near 74.00-74.75. Crude prices also inching higher crossing USD 42 and USD 40 in Brent and WTI, respectively, can keep rupee little bit weak going ahead," said Jateen Trivedi, Senior Research Analyst (Commodity and Currency) at LKP Securities.
Foreign institutional investors remained net buyers in the capital market as they purchased shares worth Rs 4,548.39 crore on Monday, according to provisional exchange data.
"Central bank is absorbing a lot of dollar flows and that is restricting the appreciation of Indian currencies. For the third consecutive session Rupee traded near the 74 mark. In the last two days, WTI Crude oil prices rose around 10 percent on vaccine optimism and Biden's US Presidential victory," said Devarsh Vakil, Deputy Head Retail Research, HDFC Securities.
The rupee fell against the US dollar despite sharp gains in domestic and global equities, but primarily on the back of short covering and marginal rebound in dollar against its major crosses, said Gaurang Somaiya, Forex & Bullion Analyst, Motilal Oswal Financial Services.
"Riskier assets got a boost after Pfizer said the experimental COVID-19 vaccine is more than 90 percent effective based on initial trial results," he further said.
On the domestic front, the focus will now be on inflation and industrial production data that will be released this week and price rise could keep the rupee gains in check, he added.
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Instagram removes BJP’s post claiming Cong ‘will snatch wealth of non-muslims’ following backlash
New Delhi: An animated video post shared on BJP’s official Instagram handle, asserting that the Congress party would snatch wealth from non-Muslims to ‘distribute it to its favorite community of invaders,’ has sparked significant backlash. Following the uproar, the photo sharing platform has taken down the post, reports Newslaundry.com.
Meanwhile, it is uncertain whether the post was removed by the BJP or by Instagram following mass reporting by several users as “misinformation” and “hate speech”. The video depicted Rahul Gandhi holding the Congress manifesto which transforms into the logo of the Muslim league. Furthermore, it sought support for PM Modi from every ‘Bharatiya,’ who is also shown wearing a saffron turban.
According to the report, it also contained a clip of PM Modi alleging that the former PM Manmohan Singh had said, “Muslims have the first claim on our resources,” insinuating that if the Congress were to assume power, it would confiscate the money and assets of non-Muslims, redistributing them to Muslims, whom it favored. Labeling Muslims as ‘infiltrators’, the video depicted historical invaders as looters who plundered India's resources and suggested that the Congress party continues to empower individuals from the same community.
The video then communicated that the Congress party’s manifesto is “nothing but Muslim league’s ideology in disguise. If you are a non-Muslim, Congress will snatch your wealth and distribute it to Muslims.” It also slinged the BJP’s official slogan ‘abki baar, 400 paar,’ and called that it was the need of the hour, since Modi only has the “strength to stop the Congress party’s evil plans.”
Similar claims have also been made by several BJP leaders. Recently, Union Minister Anurag Thakur stated that the Congress intends to “Give your children's property to Muslims.”
