Rupee Slumps To 73.42 Against Dollar In Line With Asian Peers

The rupee declined by 32 paise against the US dollar on Tuesday, September 7, to settle at 73.42 (provisional), tracking stronger American currency in the overseas market and a muted trend in domestic equities. At the interbank foreign exchange market, the domestic unit opened at 73.12 and dropped to a level of 73.44 during the trading session. In an early trade session, the local unit slipped five paise to 73.15 against the greenback. The domestic unit closed at 73.42 against the dollar, down 32 paise against its previous close.

On Monday, September 6, the domestic currency settled at 73.10 against the greenback. The rupee was in line with other Asian peers, according to forex traders.  Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.22 per cent higher at 92.23.

Anindya Banerjee, DVP, Currency Derivatives & Interest Rate Derivatives at Kotak Securities:

''The spot rupee jumped 30 paise higher at 73.40 against the greenback probably on the back of large corporate demand for the dollar. A strong US Dollar Index is also aiding the weakness in the rupee. However, the upside remains capped thanks to exporter selling and FPI inflows. We expect a range of 73.00 and 73.70 on spot.''
 

Kshitij Purohit, Lead International & Commodities at CapitalVia Global Research Limited:

''On the domestic front, USD/INR September opened on a flat note and was moving in a marginally sideways to Bullish trend. prices are respecting 73.10-73.08 support zone as we have discussed many times in earlier sessions. This is because 73.00 is a major psychological level and prices will not breach this zone until and unless there is some major news in the global markets.''

On the domestic equity market front, the BSE Sensex ended 17.43 points or 0.03 per cent lower at 58,279.48, while the broader NSE Nifty declined 15.70 points or 0.09 per cent to 17,362.10.

Ashis Biswas, Head of Technical Research at CapitalVia Global Research Limited:

''The market witnessed some volatile movements and an attempt to hold the level around the Nifty 50 Index level of 17300. If the market sustains above the level of 17200-17250, it is expected to gain momentum, leading to an upside projection till 17400-17450 level. The momentum indicators like RSI and MACD to stay positive and market breadth to improve, further strengthening a short-term bullish outlook.''

According to exchange, data, the foreign institutional investors were net sellers in the capital market on September 6 as they offloaded shares worth Rs 589.36 crore. Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, fell 0.01 per cent to $ 72.21 per barrel.