The rupee opened flat and gained 1 paisa to 83.14 against the US dollar in the morning session on Wednesday, despite a lackluster trend in domestic markets. Forex traders said the rupee is trading with a small negative bias due to selling pressure from foreign investors.
At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 83.15 versus the dollar, then jumped to 83.14, up 1 paisa from the previous close. The rupee fell as low as 83.16 against the US dollar in early trading. On Tuesday, the rupee finished at 83.15 against the US dollar.
"The rupee depreciated on Tuesday as FPIs withdrew Rs 3,115 crores from share markets following a 1.5% drop in indices. Wednesday's opening may clear the way for a move beyond 83.20, although inflows are still there to balance any large demand from FPIs," said Anil Kumar. Meanwhile, the global oil benchmark, Brent crude futures, was trading 0.01 percent down at USD 79.54 per barrel. The dollar index, which measures the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.14 percent lower at 103.46.
"Dollar hovered near a six-week high of 103.53 as investors cemented expectations that the Fed Reserve would be in no hurry to cut rates in the face of a resilient US economy," he said. In the domestic equities market, the 30-share BSE Sensex was up 70.32 points, or 0.10 percent, at 70,440.87 points. The broader NSE Nifty gained 29.85 points, or 0.14 percent, to 21,268.65 points. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the capital markets on Tuesday, selling shares worth Rs 3,115.39 crore, according to exchange data.
