April 26 (Punjab Khabarnama) : The rupee on Friday fell by seven paise to close at 83.35 (provisional) per dollar against the US currency. The local currency was affected by the strengthening of the dollar overseas and selling in domestic stock markets. Apart from this, rising crude oil prices in the international market and risk aversion sentiment affected the local currency, forex traders said. The rupee opened at 83.30 per dollar in the interbank foreign exchange market. It traded between 83.30 and 83.36 per dollar during the day. It finally closed at 83.35 (provisional) per dollar, which is seven paise lower than the previous close. The rupee had closed at 83.28 against the American currency on Thursday.
Anuj Choudhary, research analyst at Sharekhan by BNP Paribas, said, “The rupee declined sharply due to weak domestic market and crude oil prices. We estimate that the rupee will trade with a mild negative trend due to rising tensions in West Asia and weak trend in the domestic stock market.” He said, ”Rise in crude oil prices and capital withdrawal by foreign institutional investors will weigh on the rupee. Can exert more pressure. However, if the Reserve Bank intervenes, the rupee may get support at lower levels.
Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, rose 0.38 percent to US$89.35 per barrel. Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the strength of the US dollar against six major currencies, stood at 105.49 with a gain of 0.05 per cent. According to stock market data, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were sellers in the capital market on Thursday and sold shares worth a net Rs 2,823.33 crore.