Mumbai: The rupee pared initial losses to settle 9 paise higher at 74.28 (provisional) against the US dollar on Wednesday, despite a muted trend in domestic equities.
At the interbank forex market, the local unit opened on a weak note at 74.51 against the greenback and later settled at 74.28, higher by 9 paise over its previous close of 74.37.
The local unit moved in a range of 74.25 to 74.51 in the day trade.
According to Emkay Global Financial Services, there are no fresh triggers in the forex market and the USDINR spot is stuck with in a tight range of 74.20-74.55.
“It is a truncated week, with inflation playing a major hindrance to the risk appetite. So, the only focus remains on whether Fed members’ express their worry over inflation, supporting the uptrend in DXY. But overall we expect the spot to continue trading in between 74-74.65,” it said.
On the domestic equity market front, the BSE Sensex ended 314.04 points or 0.52 per cent lower at 60,008.33, while the broader NSE Nifty declined 100.55 points or 0.56 per cent at 17,898.65.
Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, fell 0.87 per cent to USD 81.71 per barrel.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading higher by 0.03 per cent at 95.94.
Foreign institutional investors were net sellers in the capital market on Tuesday as they offloaded shares worth Rs 560.67 crore, according to exchange data.