Rupee falls 9 paise to close at 92.63 against US dollar

Mumbai: The rupee depreciated 9 paise to close at 92.63 (provisional) against the US dollar on Thursday, as the situation in West Asia remains fragile, keeping investors wary of the opening of the Strait of Hormuz.

Forex traders said geopolitical uncertainty was still high amid Iran's threat to step out of the talks if Israel kept bombing Lebanon, and markets are in a wait-and-watch mode rather than strong directional positioning.

At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened at 92.63 against the US dollar, then lost ground to touch an intraday low of 92.92 against the greenback. It also hit the day's high of 92.53 during the session.

At the end of the trading session on Thursday, the rupee was quoted at 92.63 against the American currency, registering a decline of 9 paise over its previous close.

On Wednesday, the rupee appreciated 52 paise to close at 92.54 against the US dollar after US President Donald Trump announced the suspension of military strikes against Iran for two weeks, and the Reserve Bank kept the key benchmark rate unchanged with a neutral stance.

Forex traders said the fragile ceasefire and Iran's threat to step out of the talks if Israel kept bombing Lebanon weighed on investor sentiments.

Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz again in response to Israeli attacks in Lebanon. The White House demanded that the channel be reopened and sought to keep peace talks on track.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was down 0.12 per cent at 99.01 Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading higher by 3.08 per cent at $97.67 per barrel in futures trade.

"The Indian rupee's five-day rally came to a grinding halt, retreating in tandem with its Asian peers. The currency faced a double whammy of rising crude prices and relentless selling by foreign investors. Domestic equities saw a 23rd consecutive session of net selling by Foreign Institutional Investors, maintaining steady pressure on the local rupee," Dilip Parmar – Senior Research Analyst, HDFC Securities, said.

Spot USD-INR is expected to trade within a range of 92.50 to 93.40, as traders balance global energy risks and domestic capital outflows, Parmar added.

On the domestic equity market front, Sensex tumbled 931.25 points to settle at 76,631.65, while the Nifty plunged 222.25 points to 23,775.10.

Foreign Institutional Investors offloaded equities worth Rs 2,811.97 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data.

Meanwhile, India's Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri met senior US officials in Washington and discussed ways to further deepen the defence and trade relations and exchanged views on the developments in the Indo-Pacific and West Asia.

On a three-day visit, Misri met under Secretaries Michael Duffey and Elbridge Colby in the Department of Defence, and under Secretaries Jeffrey Kessler and William Kimmitt in the Department of Commerce.