Rupee rises 7 paise to close at 88.72 against US dollar
Mumbai (PTI) : The rupee appreciated 7 paise to close at 88.72 against the US dollar on Friday, on strength in the domestic markets and broad weakness in crude oil prices.
Forex traders said the rupee gained on strong domestic markets and overnight decline in commodity prices.
Intervention by the central bank also supported the domestic currency. However, a strong US dollar capped sharp gains, they added.
At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 88.80 and traded in the range of 88.50-88.80 before settling at 88.72, higher by 7 paise from its previous close.
On Thursday, the rupee closed at 88.79 against the greenback.
"We expect the rupee to trade with a positive bias on strength in the domestic markets and broad weakness in crude oil prices. US government shutdown and rising odds of a rate cut by the US Federal Reserve may further strengthen the rupee," said Anuj Choudhary, Research Analyst, Currency and commodities, Mirae Asset ShareKhan.
Choudhary further added that "a strong US dollar and importer demand for dollars may cap sharp upside. USD-INR spot price is expected to trade in a range of 88.40 to 88.85".
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.21 per cent lower at 99.32, as safe-haven demand for dollars continues keeping the dollar well bid.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading lower by 0.61 per cent at USD 64.85 per barrel in futures trading.
Dilip Parmar, Research Analyst, HDFC Securities, said, the rupee logged healthy gains against the dollar, bolstered by foreign inflows into domestic equities and a retreat in crude oil.
"For the spot USD-INR pair, we see immediate technical support at 88.50, with strong resistance at 88.85 in the near term," he added.
On the domestic equity market front, the benchmark sensitive index Sensex advanced 328.72 points, up 0.40 per cent to 82,500.82, while the Nifty climbed 103.55 points or 0.41 per cent to 25,285.35.
Meanwhile, Foreign Institutional Investors bought equities worth Rs 459.20 crore on Friday, according to exchange data.
According to RBI data, the country's forex reserves fell by USD 276 million to USD 699.96 billion during the week ended October 3. In the previous reporting week, forex reserves had dropped by USD 2.334 billion to USD 700.236 billion.
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3 officials of private banks arrested in Gujarat in Rs 2,500 crore cyber fraud; 20 held so far
Rajkot (PTI): Three officials of leading private banks were arrested for their alleged involvement in a Rs 2,500-crore cyber fraud racket in Gujarat's Rajkot district, bringing the number of those held so far in the case to 20, police said on Monday.
Those arrested were identified as Maulik Kamani, a personal manager at Yes Bank in Padadhari; Kalpesh Dangariya, a manager at Axis Bank in Jamnagar; and Anurag Baldha, a personal banker with HDFC Bank, Rajkot (Rural) Superintendent of Police Vijay Gurjar said.
Dangariya and Baldha were previously employed with Yes Bank, he added.
Kamani allegedly assisted the earlier arrested accused in opening and managing suspicious accounts. He also helped bypass banking alerts triggered by high-value transactions by submitting additional documentation to keep accounts active, the SP said.
Kamani was allegedly involved in cash withdrawals that were later routed through hawala channels (illegal money transfer system), supported by digital evidence recovered from his mobile device, he added.
Dangariya is accused of facilitating the opening of fraudulent accounts using fake or misrepresented identities, police said.
He also assisted in structuring documentation, including Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC)-related papers, to prevent transactions from being flagged as suspicious, they said.
On the other hand, Baldha opened new accounts after verification and certification processes as part of the racket, Gurjar informed.
All the three accused are in police custody, while others are in jail under judicial remand, SP said.
So far, police have identified 85 bank accounts linked to the racket with 535 complaints filed on the cyber crime portal.
The total transaction linked to the cyber fraud exceeds Rs 2,500 crore, police said.
The earlier fraud amount was pegged by police at Rs 1,500 crore.
