Rupee settles 6 paise lower at 76.20 against US dollar

The rupee settled 6 paise lower at 76.20 (provisional) against the US dollar on Friday as strengthening of the US currency and rising COVID-19 cases weighed on investor sentiment.

Forex traders said factors like strengthening the US dollar, rising coronavirus cases, and border tension between India and China dragged down the local unit, while positive domestic equities and fresh foreign fund inflows supported the rupee and restricted the decline to some extent.

The rupee opened at 76.28 against the US dollar, regained some lost ground and finally settled for the day at 76.20 against the US dollar, down 6 paise over its previous close.

It had settled at 76.14 against the greenback on Thursday.

During the four-hour trading session, the domestic unit witnessed an intra-day high of 76.17 and a low of 76.29 against the US dollar.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, rose 0.03 per cent to 97.44.

The 30-share BSE benchmark Sensex was trading 343.30 points higher at 34,551.35 and broader NSE Nifty rose 105.30 points to 10,196.95.

Foreign institutional investors were net buyers in the capital market as they bought shares worth Rs 366.57 crore on Thursday, according to provisional exchange data.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, rose 2.51 per cent to USD 42.55 per barrel.