For the third day in a row, the rupee continued to gain strength and in early trade on Thursday it gained 2 paise to 83.30 against the US dollar, following encouraging signals from the equity markets and the continued inflow of foreign funds. Crude oil prices, according to forex dealers, were restrained by the significant increase in the Indian rupee but were still above USD 82 per barrel ahead of the important meeting of oil-producing nations, or OPEC+. Also, they stated that investors are anticipating the publication of domestic GDP statistics later in the day.
The opening value of the rupee against the dollar at the interbank foreign exchange was 83.31, and it fluctuated between 83.29 and 83.32. It subsequently closed at 83.30 against the US dollar, up 2 paise from its previous closing. Benchmark Brent crude futures for the world market fell 0.18 percent to USD 82.95 per barrel.
The rupee gained 6 paise on Tuesday and gained 2 paise on Wednesday to close at 83.32 against the US dollar. In the meantime, the dollar index—which measures the strength of the US dollar relative to a basket of six currencies—was down 0.02 percent at 102.78.
The BSE Sensex was up 41.15 points, or 0.06 percent, at 66,943.06 in the domestic equities market, while the NSE Nifty gained 17.15 points, or 0.09 percent, to 20,113.75. On Wednesday, both indices saw gains of over 1%. According to exchange data, foreign institutional investors bought shares worth Rs.71.91 crore on Wednesday, making them net purchasers in the capital market.
