Rupee trades flat against US dollar amid weak stocks, firm crude oil

The rupee on Friday traded flat against the US currency in early trade amid steep losses in the domestic equity markets and firm crude oil prices.

A weak US dollar against leading world currencies and forex inflows aided the sentiment but recession fears after US jobless data weighed on the local unit, forex dealers said.

At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened marginally down by 2 paise at 82.81 against the previous close of 82.79.

The local unit moved in a narrow range of 82.82 and 82.77 in morning trade. It was trading flat at 82.79 against the US dollar at 0950 hrs.

The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, dropped 0.10 per cent to 104.33.

Brent crude, the pricing basis for international trading, strengthened 0.89 per cent to USD 81.70 a barrel on expectations of lower Russian crude exports from the Baltic region in December.

Key stock indices Sensex and Nifty declined nearly 1 per cent in early trade in line with weak Asian markets. Benchmark BSE Sensex tumbled 620.66 points to 60,205.56 while Nifty declined 158.55 points to 17,968.80.

Asian markets declined on Friday after better-than-expected US data fuelled expectations that the US Federal Reserve will keep increasing the interest rates in the New Year. Revised figures showed the US economy grew a lot more in July-September than first thought, while jobless claims were less than expected last week.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) turned net buyers in the capital markets on Thursday as they bought shares worth Rs 928.63 crore, according to exchange data.