Rupee falls 10 paise to 95.55 against US dollar in early trade

The rupee fell 10 paise to 95.55 against the US dollar in early trade on Friday, pressured by foreign investor outflows and global oil supply disruptions, though a weaker dollar and softer crude prices helped prevent a sharper decline

Mumbai: The rupee fell 10 paise to 95.55 against the US dollar in early trade on Friday, weighed down by FII outflows and sustained disruptions to global crude oil supplies.

However, a marginally weaker greenback and a decline in global crude oil prices to below USD 90 per barrel prevented a sharper fall in the local unit, forex traders said.

At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened at 95.54 against the greenback before slipping further to 95.55, down 10 paise from its previous close.

The rupee pared its initial gains and settled 1 paise lower at 95.45 against the US dollar on Thursday.

“The rupee is expected to trade in a narrow range of 95.40 to 95.60 on Friday, with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) protecting the upper end, while oil importers and month-end demand are expected to provide support at the lower end,” said Anil Kumar Bhansali, Head of Treasury and Executive Director at Finrex Treasury Advisors LLP.

Forex traders further said market participants would closely monitor US Fed Chair Kevin Warsh’s speech at the Jackson Hole Symposium.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.01 per cent lower at 99.14.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading 0.48 per cent lower at USD 89.27 per barrel in futures trade.

On the domestic equity market front, the Sensex rose 245.56 points to 77,191.80 in early trade, while the Nifty was up 54.20 points at 24,147.50.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 298.26 crore on a net basis on Thursday, according to exchange data.