Rupee Closes Higher For Fourth Straight Day Against Dollar: 5 Things To Know

The rupee on Monday settled flat at 71.71 against the US dollar. Rising crude oil prices and foreign fund outflows weighed on the domestic currency, forex dealers said. The market investors were optimistic about cut in interest rates by the US Federal Reserve, they added. The rupee witnessed volatility during today's session and hovered between 71.50 and 71.73 against the greenback. It finally settled at 71.71, higher by 1 paise over its previous close. The rupee extended gains for the fourth day in a row and has appreciated by 68 paise. The home currency had settled at 71.72 against the American currency on Friday.

Here are five things to know about dollar-rupee rate today:

1. Crude oil spurted 0.44 per cent to $61.81 per barrel in anticipation that new Saudi energy minister, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, would push for production cuts.

2. "Market participants have been pricing in some form of a monetary easing as yield curves have inverted in the last month in the US and a breather is very much needed on the cards," news agency Press Trust of India quoted Rajesh Cheruvu, chief investor, Validus Wealth as saying. "There have been some comforting signs of the trade war simmering down and the Brexit and Hong Kong protests have eased somewhat though, remains to be seen whether optimism persists," he added.

3. Meanwhile, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) remained net sellers in the capital market, pulling out Rs 188.08 crore on Monday, according to provisional exchange data.

4. The domestic equity markets gained for second straight day. The Sensex ended 164 points higher to close at 37,145 and the Nifty 50 gained 57 points to end at 11,003.

5. The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, slipped 0.06 per cent to 98.33.