Indian rupee appreciated 28 paise to 79.25 against the U.S. dollar in opening trade on Tuesday, tracking the dollar’s decline versus its major peers and foreign fund inflows. At the interbank foreign exchange, the local unit struck 79.25 in initial deals after starting at 79.30 against the dollar, gaining 28 paise from its previous close. The rupee gained 4 paise on Monday, closing at 79.53 against the dollar.
Most Asian currencies moved little on Tuesday, while the U.S. dollar stopped a recent losing streak as markets turned cautious ahead of expected U.S. inflation data later in the day.
The dollar index, which measures the strength of the dollar against a basket of six different currencies, decreased 0.12% to 108.20. The benchmark for world oil, Brent crude futures, dropped 0.21 percent to $93.80 a barrel. while WTI crude rose 7 cents to $87.85 a barrel.
Domestic macroeconomic indicators showed that while factory output fell to a four-month low of 2.4%, retail inflation surged to 7% in August due to rising food and fuel prices. On Monday, the finance minister blamed the increase in inflation on the base effect as well as higher costs for food and fuel and emphasized that the effects of government actions to slow price growth will become more noticeable in the months to come.
