The rupee gained 8 paise to 76.40 against the U.S. dollar in early trade on Wednesday in expectation of foreign fund inflows through LIC IPO. At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 76.46 against the U.S. dollar, then gained further ground to price at 76.40, registering a rise of 8 paise from the previous close.
The government is selling 22,13,74,920 shares in Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) at a price band of Rs 902-949 a share, focusing to raise about Rs 21,000 crore. The issue will open for institutional and retail buyers from May 4 -9. The anchor investor portion of LIC’s Initial Public Offering has been fully subscribed, collecting around Rs 5,620 crore.
“Foreign fund inflows from the LIC IPO could balance a strong dollar, which continued to increase gains amid aggressive rate hikes by the U.S. Fed. The dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.05% higher at 103.51.” said, Sriram Iyer, Senior Research Analyst at Reliance Securities.
“Asian currencies and equities have started mixed ahead of the Fed meeting tonight, but oil prices remained above the USD 100 level and could keep appreciation partiality restricted,” he added.
International oil benchmark Brent crude futures moved 0.99% to USD 106.01 per barrel. Foreign Institutional Investors were net sellers in the capital market on Monday as they takeoff shares worth Rs 1,853.46 crore, as per stock exchange data.
