Here are 10 things you should know about the rupee-dollar trade today:
- At the interbank foreign exchange, rupee opened higher at 70.58 and rose further to quote at 70.44, showing a rise of 46 paise over its previous close.
- Oil fell further as Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) delayed a decision on output cuts while awaiting support from non-OPEC heavyweight Russia. Brent futures slipped 52 cents to $59.54 a barrel, while US crude lost 40 cents to $51.09, reported news agency Reuters.
- The dollar index eased against a basket of currencies to 96.803, and fell to 112.85 yen from a high of 113.85 at the start of the week, reported Reuters.
- At 12:30 pm, the 30-share Sensex traded at 35,518.05, up 205.92 points or 0.58 per cent and the Nifty50 barometer of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) was at 10,651.50, with a gain of 50.35 points or 0.47 per cent.
- The US nonfarm payrolls data, scheduled to be released by evening, is also on investors' radar, said IFA Global in a note.
- Foreign funds bought net shares worth Rs 72.47 crore on Thursday, showed provisional data from NSE. (Also Read: Rupee Payment Mechanism To Be Used For Oil Import From Iran - Report)
- On Thursday, Fitch Ratings said that it expects the rupee to weaken to 75 rupees against the US dollar by the end of next year on a widening current account deficit and tighter global financing conditions.
- The rupee is on track for its worst yearly performance in five years in 2018 and a Reuters poll recently forecast it to weaken further.
- The November 28-December 4 survey of around 40 strategists forecast the rupee would weaken over 2 per cent by the end of May 2019, just after the general election, to 72.00 against the dollar.
- The rupee is the worst performing major Asian currency this year with a fall of more than 10 per cent. (With agencies inputs)
