The Indian rupee opened 7 paise lower against the US dollar on Wednesday amid a firm greenback. The local currency opened at 82.10 a dollar as compared to previous close of 82.03.
The dollar rebounded from a 15-month low hit in the previous session and held steady as traders assessed the US rate outlook. The US dollar index was at 99.943 against a basket of currencies in early Asia trade.
On Tuesday, the rupee ended flat at 82.03 a dollar.
“Rupee is expected to appreciate amid weakness in the dollar. The forecast of weaker set of economic numbers from US could force the Fed to take a pause in its rate hike regime after much anticipated 25 bps hike in the July meeting,” ICICI Direct said.
As per the brokerage, USDINR is likely to consolidate in a narrower range of 81.90-82.25 today.
“Only a move outside of the rang would bring more clarity in the direction. Above 82.25 it would rise towards 82.40. On the other hand a move below 81.90 would weaken towards 81.80,” it said.
Gains in domestic equities amid unabated foreign capital inflows limited the fall in the rupee.
Crude oil prices traded lower. Brent crude fell 0.15% to $79.51 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate crude declined 0.28% to $75.54 a barrel.
On the domestic front, the Indian equity benchmark indices, Sensex and Nifty traded higher near record high levels in the pre-opening session.
On Tuesday, the Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) net bought Indian shares worth ₹2,115.84 crore, while Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs) net sold shares to the tune of ₹1,317.56 crore, as per provisional data available on the exchanges.
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Updated: 19 Jul 2023, 09:14 AM IST