Rupee darts up 16 paise to 71.04 against U.S. dollar

The rupee pared initial losses and settled 16 paise up at 71.04 against the U.S. dollar on Monday amid softening crude oil prices and weakening of the greenback vis-a-vis other currencies overseas.

Fresh foreign fund inflows and positive developments on the U.S.-China trade front also propped up the local unit, forex traders said.

At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened at 71.24 against the U.S. dollar. During the day, the domestic unit fluctuated between a high of 71.02 and a low of 71.27 and finally ended the day at 71.04 against the U.S. dollar.

On Friday, the rupee had settled at 71.20.

“The strength in Asian peers also supported rupee gains. Asian currencies rose as concern about trade tensions eased, with U.S. President Donald Trump saying negotiations were ‘moving along well’ and China working on waiving retaliatory tariffs,” said V. K. Sharma, Head - PCG & Capital Market Strategy, HDFC Securities.

China on Monday said that it hoped to make a trade deal with the U.S. as soon as possible.

Traders further said the near term focus will be on Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) and European Central Bank (ECB) monetary policy decision.

“This week, volatility is expected to remain high not only for rupee as well as for the major crosses ahead of important FOMC and ECB policy statement and at the same time we are expected to get cues from the ongoing trade talks between U.S. and China,” said Gaurang Somaiyaa, Forex & Bullion Analyst, Motilal Oswal Financial Services Private Ltd.

On the domestic market front, the 30-share BSE Sensex settled with gains of 42.28 points or 0.10% at 40,487.43. The index swung between a high of 40,645.63 and a low of 40,336.56 during the day.

The 50-scrip NSE Nifty closed 16 points or 0.13% higher at 11,937.50.

Foreign investors net bought shares worth ₹459.22 crore on Monday, provisional exchange data showed.

The dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, slipped 0.13% to 97.57.

Meanwhile, the 10-year government bond yield was at 6.67% on Monday.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, dropped 0.84% to trade at $63.85 per barrel.

The Financial Benchmark India Private Ltd (FBIL) set the reference rate for the rupee/dollar at 71.3165 and for rupee/euro at 79.1927. The reference rate for rupee/British pound was fixed at 93.8772 and for rupee/100 Japanese yen at 65.61.