Mumbai: The Indian rupee eked out 8 paise gains to close at 74.34 against the US dollar on Friday, helped by weaker greenback against key rivals and positive domestic equities.
At the interbank forex market, the local unit opened at 74.41 against the greenback and witnessed an intra-day high of 74.25 and finally ended the day at 74.34, registering a gain of 8 paise from its previous close of 74.42.
On a weekly basis, the rupee depreciated 5 paise against the American currency.
“Rupee traded strong as capital market gains, mainly financial sector performance, helped rupee appreciation. Dollar traded weak, keeping less pressure on rupee as rupee digested the strong banking rally. Range for rupee can be seen between 74.20-74.60,” said Jateen Trivedi, Senior Research Analyst at LKP Securities.
According to Sriram Iyer, Senior Research Analyst at Reliance Securities, the rupee appreciated on Friday against the US dollar tracking a rebound in regional equities.
“For the week, the rupee ended flat against the dollar as fund flows offset worries over an early interest rate lift-off by the Federal Reserve,” Iyer said.
Additionally, weaker Asian and emerging market peers and stronger crude oil prices this week also kept appreciation bias limited.
On the domestic equity market front, the BSE Sensex ended 142.81 points or 0.24 per cent higher at 59,744.65, while the broader NSE Nifty advanced 66.80 points or 0.38 per cent to 17,812.70.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against the basket of six currencies, fell 0.21 per cent to 96.11.
Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, rose 0.99 per cent to USD 82.80 per barrel.
Foreign institutional investors were net sellers in the capital market on Thursday, as they offloaded shares worth Rs 1,926.77 crore, as per exchange data.