Ashutosh Raina of HDFC Bank says the equity markets are consolidating recent gains, oil is edging higher and dollar is slightly weaker, adding markets await the US Q1 GDP data.
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The rupee opened higher on increased selling of the USA currency by exporters and banks amid a higher opening in the domestic equity market.
The rupee had ended 5 paise lower at 67.49 yesterday on continuous demand for the greenback from banks and importers amid a fall in domestic equities. The currency has opened at 67.02 a dollar, up 15 paise compared to previous day’s closing value of 67.17 a dollar.
At the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market, the rupee resumed on a firm footing at 67.63 against its overnight close of 67.75 and maintained its rising trend to hit an intra-day high of 67.31 before settling at 67.33, a solid gain of 42 paise, or 0.62 per cent.
Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India fixed the reference rate for the dollar at 67.2855 and euro at 75.2185.
In cross-currency trades, the rupee retreated sharply against the pound sterling to finish at 98.98 from 97.71 yesterday.
On the other hand, it weakened against the euro and finished at 75.10 from 75.03 earlier.
The dollar index, which measures the USA currency’s strength against major currencies, was trading at 95.213, down 0.13% from its previous close of 95.354.
The dollar index, which tracks the world’s reserve currency against a basket of its peers, is down by 0.06 per cent at 95.53.
Brent oil futures eased after touching above United States dollars 50 a barrel – the highest since November 2015 on fading global supply glut.
In forward market, premium for the dollar displayed a marginal improvement.
The benchmark S&P BSE Sensex index of shares fell 0.3 percent, after advancing as much as 0.9 percent.
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In the meantime, Indian markets continued their strong rallying momentum for the straight third day and touched multi-month highs amid optimism over economic recovery.
