The rupee depreciated 11 paise to close at 83.65 (provisional) against the American currency, weighed down by a muted trend in domestic equities and rising crude oil prices.

The Indian rupee opened higher on Tuesday (September 24, 2024) as domestic equities touched fresh record highs. However, the rupee lost early gains and closed in the red and domestic equity markets also followed suit and closed in the negative territory.

Forex traders said a surge in crude oil prices weighed on the rupee, while the U.S. Dollar weakened as China announced fresh stimulus to boost its economy.

At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local unit opened at 83.54 against the American currency and finally settled at 83.65 (provisional) against the U.S. dollar, down 11 paise from its previous close.

On Monday (September 23, 2024), the rupee pared its early gains to close lower by 2 paise at 83.54 against the U.S. currency.

“We expect the rupee to trade with a positive bias amid improved global risk appetite following China’s stimulus and softness in the dollar. However, elevated crude oil and other commodity prices may cap sharp upside,” said Anuj Choudhary, Research Analyst at Sharekhan by BNP Paribas.

Mr. Choudhury further said traders may take cues from U.S. CB consumer confidence data and speeches by Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) members. “USDINR spot price is expected to trade in a range of ₹83.45 to ₹83.85,” he said.

On the domestic equity markets front, the Sensex declined 14.57 points, or 0.02%, to settle at 84,914 points, while the Nifty rose 1.35 points, or 0.01%, to close at 25,940.40 points.

The dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, fell marginally by 0.05% to 100.79.

Brent crude, the international benchmark, rose 2.42% to 75.69 in futures trade.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net buyers in the capital markets on Monday (September 23, 2024), as they purchased shares worth ₹404.42 crore, according to exchange data.

Meanwhile, S&P Global Ratings on Tuesday (September 24, 2024) retained India’s growth forecast at 6.8% for the current fiscal year and said it expects the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to start cutting interest rates in its October monetary policy review.

In the economic outlook of Asia Pacific, S&P Global Ratings also retained its GDP growth forecast for the 2025-26 fiscal year at 6.9% and said solid growth in India would allow the RBI to focus on bringing inflation in line with its target.