Rupee Depreciates To 74.35 Against Dollar Amid Stronger American Currency
The rupee depreciated 11 paise against the US dollar on Tuesday, August 17, to settle at 74.35 (provisional) tracking a stronger American currency in the overseas markets. At the interbank foreign exchange market, the domestic unit opened flat at 74.23 against the dollar and registered an intra-day high of 74.21. It witnessed a low of 74.36 during the session. In an early trade session, the local unit slipped two paise to 74.26 against the greenback. On Monday, August 16, the forex market was closed due to 'Parsi New Year'.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.06 per cent higher at 92.68. On Friday, August 13, the rupee settled flat to 74.24 against the American currency.
What analysts say:
Mr Amit Pabari, MD, CR Forex:
''The dollar index remains firm at 92.65 levels amid fears that global economic activity is slowing and the rapid spread of the delta strain would delay it further. The growth in Chinese retail sales and industrial output slowed while US consumer sentiment cooled to a near decade-low. That apart, geopolitical tension in Afghanistan weighed on risk appetite.
Domestically, market participants welcomed the Rs 100 trillion national infrastructure plan by PM Modi that will help generate jobs, boost the productivity of industries and lead to overall economic growth.
It will be watchful whether RBI shows any intervention downside to cap sharp gains in the rupee. If so then, two opposite forces “inflows” and “RBI” should keep the rupee to trade sideways in the range of 74.10-74.40 zone in the near term before any big market triggers like Fed tapering announcement takes it towards 75.00-75.20 levels in the upcoming time.''
Domestic Equity Markets Today:
On the domestic equity market front, the BSE Sensex ended 209.69 points or 0.38 per cent higher at 55,792.27, while the broader NSE Nifty climbed 51.55 points or 0.31 per cent to 16,614.60. On Tuesday, the benchmark indices extended their record-breaking streak for the fourth session in a row, driven by gains in IT and FMCG heavyweights such as Hindustan Unilever, Infosys, Tech Mahindra. The Nifty settled above the 16,600-mark for the first time ever.
Shrikant Chouhan, Executive Vice President, Equity Technical Research at Kotak Securities:
''Markets maintained their upward trajectory thanks to a sharp rally in IT stocks, as investors bet on recovery on the back of states relaxing lockdowns and opening up their economies.
On daily charts, Nifty has formed a breakout continuation formation even as intraday charts suggest traders may prefer to take some profits near the 16700 resistance level. As long as Nifty trades above 16520, the uptrend formation could continue up to 16675-16720 levels.''
According to exchange data, the foreign institutional investors were net sellers in the capital market on August 16 as they offloaded shares worth Rs 1,088.32 crore. Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, fell 0.37 per cent to $ 69.25 per barrel.