Rupee rises 5 paise to settle at 83.28 against US dollar

     Mumbai, Apr 25 (PTI) The rupee appreciated 5 paise to close at 83.28 against the US dollar on Thursday on the back of positive domestic equities and a weak American currency against major overseas rivals.
     Forex traders said foreign capital outflows also weighed on the domestic currency.
     At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local unit opened at 83.34 and hit an intra-day high of 83.28 and a low of 83.40 against the greenback.
     The local currency finally settled at 83.28 against the dollar, registering a gain of 5 paise from its previous close.
     On Wednesday, the rupee consolidated in a narrow range and settled 2 paise lower at 83.33 against the US dollar.
     "We expect the rupee to trade with a slightly negative bias on recovery in crude oil prices and mixed to weak Asian and European markets. However, a soft dollar amid easing geopolitical tensions in the Middle East may support the rupee at lower levels," said Anuj Choudhary, Research Analyst at Sharekhan by BNP Paribas.
     Choudhary further noted that traders may take cues from Advance GDP, weekly unemployment claims and pending home sales data from the US. Investors may remain cautious ahead of inflation data on Friday. USD/INR spot price is expected to trade in a range of Rs 83.10 to Rs 83.70.
     Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, rose 0.05 per cent to USD 88.06 per barrel.
     The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was at 105.60, fell by 0.24 per cent.
     On the domestic equity market front, Sensex advanced 486.50 points, or 0.66 per cent, to settle at 74,339.44, and Nifty rose 167.95 points, or 0.75 per cent, to close at 22,570.35.
     Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the capital markets on Thursday as they offloaded shares worth Rs 2,823.33 crore, according to exchange data.
     Rajani Sinha, Chief Economist, CareEdge Ratings, said: "FPIs have so far pulled out of Indian markets in April. Nevertheless, in the year so far, rupee remains a top performer compared to some EM and Asian peers, likely supported by RBI interventions.
     "We expect INR to trade between 83.00 – 83.50 in the near term, though geopolitical tensions may pose a potential risk. We expect INR to appreciate marginally during FY25 to ~82-82.50 supported by India's strong fundamentals in terms of healthy economic growth of around 7 per cent, a comfortable CAD of around 1 per cent of GDP, and expected surge in FPI inflows post India's inclusion in global bond indices," Sinha said.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)