| Rupee pares all gains, settles 14 paise lower at 85.44 against US dollar | | |  Agencies
MUMBAI, Apr 4: The rupee pared all its gains and settled 14 paise lower at 85.44 against the US dollar amid incessant foreign fun outflows triggered by worldwide sell-offs due to concerns over escalating tariff war.
Forex traders said the domestic unit gained initially on weak US dollar index and a sharp decline in crude oil prices, but reversed the trend later due to weak equity market sentiment and foreign investors' rush for withdrawal amid uncertain global macroeconomic situation.
At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 85.07, touched an intra-day high of 84.96 and a low of 85.44 against the greenback. The unit ended the session at 85.44 against the dollar, registering a loss of 14 paise from its previous closing level.
On Thursday, the rupee settled at 85.30, higher by 22 paise against the US dollar as the greenback weakened against its major peers after President Donald Trump unleashed reciprocal tariffs on about 60 countries.
"We expect the rupee to trade with a negative bias on risk aversion in the global market amid trade tariff worries and FII outflows. However, a weak US dollar and decline in crude oil prices may support the rupee at lower levels," said Anuj Choudhary, Research Analyst at Mirae Asset Sharekhan.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.42 per cent lower at 101.64, on disappointing services PMI data and concerns over trade tariffs, raising worries over economic growth in the US.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, fell 0.84 per cent to USD 69.55 per barrel in futures trade, hit by twin shocks of Trump's tariffs and an OPEC+ decision to increase output faster than previously announced.
In the domestic equity market, the 30-share BSE Sensex crashed 930.67 points, or 1.22 per cent, to settle at 75,364.69, while the Nifty tanked 345.65 points, or 1.49 per cent, to close at 22,904.45 points.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 3,483.98 crore on a net basis on Friday, according to exchange data.
The Reserve Bank of India on Friday said the country's forex kitty jumped USD 6.596 billion to USD 665.396 billion during the week ended March 28. In the previous reporting week, the overall reserves rose by USD 4.529 billion to USD 658.8 billion.
This is the fourth consecutive week of increase in the reserve, which was on a declining trend recently due to revaluation along with forex market interventions by RBI to help reduce volatilities in the rupee. |
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