Rupee Moves Higher To Close At 73.32 Against Dollar: 10 Things To Know

NDTV Profit Team

19 Oct 2018, 05:49 PM IST

Rupee vs dollar: The rupee registered a weekly gain of 25 paise against the greenback

The rupee touched an intraday high of 73.31 against the dollar during the session, before settling at a gain of 29 paise for the day.
The gain in rupee came a day after an around 1 per cent fall in crude oil prices. Brent crude - the global benchmark for crude oil - traded around $79.5 a barrel levels on Friday, inches from a near one-month low of $79.29 barrel registered the previous day.
Declining crude oil prices supported the currency, say analysts. "The fall in crude oil prices in last two trading sessions has been a relief for oil importers," said VK Sharma, head PCG and capital markets group at HDFC Securities.
The RBI eased lending norms related to certain non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) as liquidity concerns in the sector persist and markets continue to question the viability of some of the firms following the IL&FS debacle. Commercial banks would be allowed to allocate up to 15 per cent of their lending to NBFCs that do not finance infrastructure projects, up from an earlier limit of 10 per cent. The move is effective up to December 31, the central bank said.
Domestic equity markets fell over 1 per cent for a second consecutive session. The Sensex closed 463 points lower at 34,315 while the Nifty fell 149 points to settle at 10,303, marking a 1.2 per cent and 1.6 per cent weekly decline respectively.
Analysts say concerns on global growth and trade war continued to keep markets in a cautious mode.
"Equities globally have been cracking because of hawkish Fed minutes and concerns related to China growth as trade war concerns do not seem to end soon," said IFA Global, a forex advisory firm.
Weakness in the dollar overseas also supported the rupee. The dollar index - which measures the US currency against a basket of six major currencies - declined 0.06 per cent to 95.88 during Friday's session.
Foreign fund inflows also supported the domestic currency. On a net basis, foreign funds bought shares worth Rs 140.02 crore, while domestic institutional investors sold shares to the tune of Rs 343.11 crore Wednesday, provisional data showed.
The equity and forex markets had remained shut on Thursday on account of Dussehra.

(With agency inputs)