Rupee ends flat at 74.41 on a spike in crude oil prices, dollar buying
Mumbai: The rupee pared its early gains to close almost flat at 74.41 on Tuesday due to dollar buying by banks and resurging crude oil prices.
The rupee opened sharply higher at 74.34 amid heavy buying in local stock markets and raced to hit the day's high of 74.25.
The local unit, however, struggled in the latter half and gave up initial gains to finally settle at 74.41, showing a gain of just 1 paisa over the previous close.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, fell 0.42 percent to 93.75.
On the domestic equity market front, BSE benchmark Sensex rallied 503.55 points or 1.27 percent to close at 40,261.13. The broader NSE Nifty jumped 144.35 points or 1.24 percent to 11,813.50.
Foreign institutional investors emerged as net buyers in the capital market as they purchased shares worth Rs 740.61 crore on Monday, according to provisional exchange data.
Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, rose 1.72 percent to USD 39.64 per barrel.
"Rupee consolidated in a narrow range for the second successive session ahead of the important US Presidential election results. The expectation is that the announcement of the result could take some time but we could get some bit of clarity by this weekend.
"Market participants are also cautious ahead of the FOMC policy statement that will be released later this week. For the week, we expect the rupee to trade with a negative bias and quote in the range of 74.20 and 75.20," Gaurang Somaiyaa, Forex & Bullion Analyst, Motilal Oswal Financial Services, said.
Alankit Limited Managing Director Ankit Agarwal said that the rupee may garner support from an upswing in domestic equities on the back of upbeat economic data from China, Europe, and the US.
It is expected that exporters may sell the greenback at attractive higher dollar/rupee levels, which may further support the rupee, dealers stated.
Traders are expected to refrain from placing large bets on the movement of Indian currency in either direction amid global unprecedented situations. The US will hold its presidential election later today, wherein Democratic nominee Joe Biden is seen taking a significant lead over incumbent President Donald Trump, Agarwal said.
Key economic data from across the world soothed frayed nerves about economic recovery at a time when Europe is struggling with the second wave of accelerating COVID-19 infections, he added.
"Rupee ended higher on back of strong inflows in the capital market mainly banking and financial sector. Also, the dollar index kept trading muted on the back of awaiting the outcome of US Elections which can decide a possible trend for the Dollar index.
"Crude prices saw a rise after a strong decline it has witnessed in recent past few days which kept the rupee rise at check. For the next couple of sessions, rupee can be in a very volatile range of 73.75 - 75.25 range," Jateen Trivedi, Senior Research Analyst (Commodity & Currency) at LKP Securities said.
Global markets approach the US election day in an upbeat mood as risk assets remained strong as the Dollar sold off against major trading currencies, Devarsh Vakil, Deputy Head Retail Research, HDFC Securities said.
"The bias for the spot USD/INR is bullish but it has risen to a level where we feel it will encounter strong resistance. Near term, the pair has resistance at 75.1 and support at 73.9," he added.
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Pakistan reports two more polio cases; Total tally now 52
ISLAMABAD: At least two more cases of poliovirus were reported in Pakistan, taking the number of infections to 52 so far this year, a report said on Friday.
“The Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health has confirmed the detection of two more wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) cases in Pakistan," an official statement said.
The fresh infections — a boy and a girl — were reported from the Dera Ismail Khan district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province.
“Genetic sequencing of the samples collected from the children is underway," the statement read. Dera Ismail Khan, one of the seven polio-endemic districts of southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, has reported five polio cases so far this year.
Of the 52 cases in the country this year, 24 are from Balochistan, 13 from Sindh, 13 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and one each from Punjab and Islamabad.
There is no cure for polio. Only multiple doses of the oral polio vaccine and completion of the routine vaccination schedule for all children under the age of five can keep them protected.
