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Rupee Loses 10 Paise As Dollar, Crude Prices Gain: 10 Points
28 Nov 2018, 02:12 PM IST
- At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened lower at 70.88 per dollar against and dropped further to quote at 70.89, 10 paise down over its previous close.
- Increased demand of the US currency from importers, the dollar's strength against some currencies overseas weighed on the rupee but a higher opening of the domestic equity markets, capped the losses, forex traders were quoted as saying in the PTI report.
- The dollar jumped to a near one-and-a-half-year high as risk assets rowed back amid conflicting signals on prospects for de-escalating the Sino-US trade dispute, reported Reuters.
- The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of major currencies, jumped overnight to 97.497 to edge towards one-and-a-half-year top of 97.661 earlier this month. It was last at 97.412.
- Meanwhile, the domestic equity markets traded with solid gains in trade. At 1:00 pm, BSE benchmark Sensex traded at 35,757.27, up 244.13 points or 0.69 per cent and the Nifty50 barometer of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) was at 10,739.45, with a gain of 53.85 points or 0.50 per cent.
- Losses in the rupee were, however, positive for IT stocks as exporters usually gain when the rupee loses in value against the dollar. Nifty IT - the index of information technology index was the biggest sectoral gainer (up 2.39 per cent) as nine out of 10 stocks gained in trade.
- Forex traders also eyed crude prices which were cautiously higher ahead of an OPEC meeting next week at which the producer club is expected to decide on some form of supply cut to counter an emerging glut. The shutdown of Britain's largest North Sea oilfield for repairs also supported prices. US crude futures added 78 cents to $52.34 a barrel. Brent climbed 87 cents to $61.08, stated Reuters. India imports more than 80 per cent of its crude oil requirements.
- On Monday, the Reserve Bank of India partially eased a requirement for companies to hedge dollars while raising funds from overseas markets - a move that will encourage companies to raise funds offshore and reduce demand for dollars in the domestic market.
- RBI said companies would now be required to hedge 70 per cent of their external commercial borrowings (ECB) for maturity periods of three to five years, instead of the full exposure. The move is expected to support the rupee.
- On Tuesday, the rupee had recovered by 8 paise to close at 70.79 against the US dollar on increased selling of the greenback by exporters and softening crude oil prices. (With agency inputs)
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