Rupee closes marginally lower by 2 paise at 63.82 against US dollar

Mumbai: The rupee ended marginally lower by two paise at 63.82 against the American currency on month-end dollar demand from importers amidst a higher greenback in the overseas market.

The rupee opened almost flat at 63.81 as against last closing level of 63.80 at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market, but firmed up to 63.69 on selling of dollars by banks on hopes of foreign capital inflows in view of strong recovery in the equity market.

However, it washed out initial gains and dropped to 63.8950 on month-end dollar demand from importers, mainly oil refiners, before ending at 63.82 per dollar, showing a marginal loss of two paise or 0.03 per cent.

The rupee hovered in a range of 63.69 and 63.8950 during the day.

"Today, not much movement was seen in the USD/INR pair", Veracity Group CEO Pramit Brahmbhatt said, adding that the pair is likely to trade range-bound as investors are trading cautiously and are waiting for the RBI monetary policy which will help them gauge markets.

The trading range for the Spot USD/INR pair is expected to be within 63.40 to 64.20. The dollar index was trading higher by 0.11 per cent against its major global rivals.

However, the dollar was drifting lower against the yen in Asian trade on Friday, with some investors locking in profits ahead of the weekend following this week's rally.

In the New York market, the dollar rose to a 13-year high against the yen yesterday, extending a rally driven by a growing conviction that the Federal Reserve's lift-off date is not too far.

The benchmark BSE Sensex surged by 321.73 points, or 1.17 per cent, to finish at 27,828.44. In the forward market, the premium ended mixed due to uneven demand and supply transactions.

The benchmark six-month premium payable in October moved down further to 186-188 paise from 187-189 paise while forward contracts maturing in April 2016 edged up to 403.5-405.5 paise from 403-405 paise previously.

The Reserve Bank of India fixed the reference rate for dollar at 63.7615 and for the euro at 69.9081.

The rupee firmed up further against the pound sterling to 97.37 from 97.50 previously, while dropping further against the euro to 69.97 from 69.54.

The rupee moved down against the Japanese currency to 51.50 per 100 yen from 51.35 on Thursday.