Rupee Vs Dollar: The rupee is down 5.90% against the dollar so far this year
Rupee Vs Dollar Today: The rupee was stuck in a narrow range against the dollar on Friday amid a mixed trend in Asian currencies. The rupee fluctuated between gains and losses during the four-hour session, touching 75.52 and 75.64 at the strongest and weakest levels of the day, having opened nearly unchanged at 75.59 against the greenback. It was last seen trading at the same level of 75.59, down 2 paise compared to its previous close of 75.57.
Domestic stock markets rose more than 1 per cent on Monday amid gains in financial and IT stocks. Sentiment was boosted as Asia's third largest economy emerged from the coronavirus lockdowns amid hopes of recovery in global economy.
The S&P BSE Sensex index climbed up 1.87 per cent - or 640.56 points - to touch 34,927.80 at the strongest level of the day, having started the session up 553.93 points at 34,841.17, the broader NSE Nifty 50 benchmark strengthened to as high as 10,328.50 compared to its previous close of 10,142.15 before trimming intraday gains.
Crude oil prices climbed on Monday after top producers agreed to extend a deal on record output cuts to the end of July and as China's crude imports hit an all-time high in May. Brent crude futures - the global benchmark for crude oil - were last seen trading 1.2 per cent higher at $42.81 per barrel.
The dollar index - which gauges the greenback's performance against six currencies - dropped as much as 0.23 per cent, and was last seen trading down 0.10 per cent.
Analysts say the rupee is expected to remain in a narrow range in the near term.
"Surprisingly, despite inflows in the equity markets and current upbeat in the market sentiments, the rupee is unable to strengthen past 75.00 levels due to persistent buying by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)," said Amit Pabari, managing director at forex advisory firm CR Forex Advisors.
"The RBI's forex reserves continue to rise and have loaded $3.43 billion in the kitty to reach all time high of $493.43 billion. This behavior of the central bank reflects that it is comfortable with the current levels of rupee and might not want the currency to appreciate to support the falling exports sector," he said.
Currency markets currently operate within reduced trading hours due to the coronavirus-induced lockdown. The temporary timings are from 10 am to 2 pm, instead of the normal timings of 9 am to 5 pm.
At Friday's closing level of 75.57, the rupee is down 5.90 per cent against the dollar so far this year.
