Rupee falls 28 paise, ends at 90.18 vs US dollar

Mumbai, Jan 9 (PTI) The rupee declined 28 paise to settle at 90.18 against the US dollar on Friday, weighed down by elevated global crude oil prices and persistent foreign fund outflows amid rising geopolitical tensions.

A stronger greenback and weak sentiment in domestic equity markets are putting further pressure on the local unit, according to forex traders.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened higher at 89.88 but lost ground through the day to settle at 90.18 against the US dollar, down 28 paise from its previous close. During the day, the local currency traded between 89.88 and 90.25.

On Thursday, the rupee settled 3 paise lower at 89.90 against the US dollar.

"The rupee opened higher at 89.88, but as stock markets started to fall again and it fell to 90.25. The US Supreme Court's decision on the tariffs was scheduled for Friday, and we await the decision, which could affect Indian stocks and the rupee on Monday," Anil Kumar Bhansali, Head of Treasury and Executive Director, Finrex Treasury Advisors LLP, said.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which measures the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.03 per cent higher at 98.96.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading 0.81 per cent higher at USD 62.49 per barrel in futures trade.

"We expect the rupee to trade with a negative bias on tempered geopolitical tensions leading to risk aversion in global markets. Strength in the US Dollar and a surge in global crude oil prices may also pressurise the rupee.

"FII outflows may also add to the downside pressure. However, any intervention by the central bank may support the rupee at lower levels," said Anuj Choudhary, Research Analyst, Mirae Asset ShareKhan.

Choudhary further noted that "traders may take cues from the non-farm payrolls report from the US. USDINR spot price is expected to trade in a range of 89.90 to 90.60."

On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share benchmark index Sensex plunged 604.72 points to settle at 83,576.24, while the Nifty was down 193.55 points to 25,683.30.

Foreign institutional investors offloaded equities worth Rs 3,769.31 crore on Friday, according to exchange data.

Meanwhile, India's forex reserves dropped by USD 9.809 billion to USD 686.801 billion in the week to January 2, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said on Friday. In the previous reporting week, the forex reserves had jumped by USD 3.293 billion to USD 696.61 billion.

This report was published from a syndicated wire feed. Apart from the headline, the EdexLive Desk has not edited the copy.