Agencies
Mumbai, Jan 6: The rupee pared its intraday losses and settled for the day on a positive note higher by 11 paise at 85.68 against the US dollar on Monday.
Forex traders said the Reserve Bank of India's interventions aimed at stabilising the rupee, helped in restricting the decline in the local unit.
However, the rupee's outlook remains clouded by a mix of domestic as well as global challenges. Increased dollar demand, a steep fall in domestic equity markets and unabated outflow of foreign capital continue to dent investors' sentiments, they said.
At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 85.77 and touched the lowest-ever level of 85.84 against the greenback in intraday trade. The unit pared the losses and finally settled for the day higher by 11 paise at 85.68 against the American currency.
On Friday, the rupee depreciated 4 paise to close at 85.79 against the dollar.
The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.46 per cent lower at 108.45.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, rose 0.78 per cent to USD 77.11 per barrel in futures trade.
Meanwhile, the country's forex reserves dropped by USD 4.112 billion to USD 640.279 billion during the week ended December 27, the Reserve Bank said on Friday.
According to traders the Reserve Bank's interventions aimed at stabilising the rupee have played a significant role in this decline, as the central bank has actively engaged in market operations to support the currency.
In the domestic equity market, the 30-share BSE Sensex crashed 1,258.12 points, or 1.59 per cent, to settle at 77,964.99 points, while the Nifty tanked 388.70 points, or 1.62 per cent, to 23,616.05 points.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) offloaded Rs 2,575.06 crore in the capital markets on a net basis on Monday, according to exchange data.
On the domestic macroeconomic front, India's services sector growth touched a four-month high in December, supported by new business inflows on strong demand conditions and easing inflationary pressures, a monthly survey said on Monday.
The seasonally adjusted HSBC India Services Business Activity Index, rose from 58.4 in November to 59.3 in December, highlighting the strongest rate of expansion in four months.
According to a World Gold Council (WGC) the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) continued with its 2024 buying streak, adding a further 8 tonnes to its gold reserves in November.
This lifted the year-to-date buying to 73 tonnes and total gold holdings to 876 tonnes, maintaining its position as the second largest buyer in 2024, after Poland. |
