Rupee falls 6 paise to close at 88.68 against US dollar

Mumbai: The rupee consolidated in a narrow range and settled for the day lower by 6 paise at 88.68 (provisional) against the US dollar on Thursday, as foreign fund outflows and continuous dollar demand from local importers, including oil companies, exerted pressure on the local currency.

Forex traders said rupee is trading in a tight range, as overnight decline in crude oil prices and renewed optimism over US-India trade talks providing a steady anchor and restricted the downfall.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 88.66 against the US dollar and touched an intra-day high of 88.63 and a low of 88.73 during the day.

The domestic unit finally settled for the day at 88.68 (provisional), registering a loss of 6 paise from its previous close.

On Wednesday, the rupee depreciated 12 paise to close at 88.62 against the US dollar.

"We expect the rupee to trade with a slight negative bias on dollar demand from importers. However, positive tone in the domestic markets and falling global crude oil prices may support the rupee at lower levels. USD-INR spot price is expected to trade in a range of 88.40 to 89," said Anuj Choudhary, Research Analyst, Mirae Asset ShareKhan.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.29 per cent lower at 99.20, after the Trump administration passed the bill to end a 43-day record government shutdown.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading 0.21 per cent lower at USD 62.58 per barrel in futures trade.

On the domestic equity market front, Sensex settled marginally up at 84,478.67, while the Nifty closed almost flat at 25,879.15.

Foreign Institutional Investors sold equities worth Rs 1,750.03 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data.

Meanwhile, the government on Wednesday approved an Export Promotion Mission (EPM) with an outlay of Rs 25,060 crore for six financial years, beginning this fiscal year, a move which will help exporters deal with high tariffs imposed by the US.

The mission will be implemented through two sub-schemes -- Niryat Protsahan (Rs 10,401 crore) and Niryat Disha (Rs 14,659 crore).

On the domestic macroeconomic front, retail inflation fell to a record low of 0.25 per cent in October following cut in GST rates on nearly 380 items of mass consumption coupled with subdued prices of vegetables, fruits and eggs.

October Consumer Price Index (CPI)-based inflation was lowest in the current series (base year 2012), which captures data since January 2014.

The inflation was 1.44 per cent in September and 6.21 per cent in October 2024.