Rupee sees volatility post allocation of portfolios

The rupee witnessed high volatility in the forex market Friday following the allocation of key portfolios in the newly elected government.

In the opening trade Friday, the rupee had appreciated by 15 paise to 69.72 against the US dollar, driven by positive opening in domestic equities.

Following the portfolio announcement, the rupee pared its initial gains and slipped to 69.88 vs the USD and was later trading at 69.85 at 0136 hrs, marginally higher by 2 paise over its last close.

On Thursday, the rupee had settled at 69.87 against the US dollar.

In the newly elected government, Amit Shah was allotted the Home ministry, Rajnath Singh (Defence), S Jaishankar (External Affairs Minister) and Nirmala Sitharaman (Finance).

Narendra Modi was on Thursday sworn in as the Prime Minister for a second term helming a 58-member ministry.

Besides 25 Cabinet ministers including Modi, Shah, Rajnath Singh, Nirmala Sitharaman, Nitin Gadkari, Smriti Irani, Piyush Goyal and Jaishankar, nine were sworn in as Minister of State with Independent charge and another 24 as Minister of State.

Meanwhile, following the portfolio announcement, the benchmark BSE Sensex fell in the negative territory and was trading down 230.85 points, or 0.58 per cent to quote at 39,601.12 while the NSE Nifty was trading at 11,882.10, down 63.80 points, or 0.53 per cent.

Brent crude, the global benchmark, was trading at 65.98 per barrel lower by 1.33 per cent.