Rupee clocks first gain in three days, up by 18 paise against US dollar

The rupee on Friday perked up 18 paise to end at 74.84 against the US dollar, tracking gains in domestic equities and some easing in global crude oil prices.

At the interbank forex market, the Indian currency traded between a high of 74.84 and low of 74.96 during the session. The rupee eventually closed at the day’s peak at 74.84, gaining 18 paise over the greenback.

On weekly basis, the rupee advanced 6 paise against the US dollar.

The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, rose 0.17 per cent to 92.95.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, fell 0.29 per cent to USD 44.77 per barrel.

"The Indian rupee appreciated against the US dollar on Friday as foreign banks’ greenback sales added to the early rise stemming from a further decline in the dollar index in early trades," said Sriram Iyer, Senior Research Analyst, Reliance Securities.

On the domestic equity market front, the BSE index ended 214.33 points or 0.56 per cent higher at 38,434.72; and the NSE Nifty settled 59.40 points or 0.53 per cent up at 11,371.60.

Foreign institutional investors bought equities worth Rs 410.16 crore on a net basis on Friday, exchange data showed.

"The recovery in dollar index and brief pullback in stocks gave some respite to the USD/INR bulls, however, the excitement was very brief. Overall, the weak US economic data is keeping dollar index subdued and there are no signs of recovery," said Rahul Gupta, Head of Research- Currency, Emkay Global Financial Services.

Going ahead, the subdued dollar will weigh on USD/INR spot and the tighter trading range of 74.50-75.20 will continue even next week, Gupta said.