Mumbai: The rupee recovered 3 paise to settle at 77.54 (provisional) against the US currency in a restricted trade Wednesday as interventions by banks supported the local unit while a stronger dollar in overseas markets restricted the gains.
At the interbank forex market, the rupee opened higher at 77.54 against the greenback and moved in a range of 77.44 to 77.57 in the day trade.
The rupee finally ended at 77.54, higher by 3 paise over its previous close of 77.57 against the American currency.
“Rupee traded with pendulum swing on a range fight between hedgers as participants from banks tried to support rupee whereas remittance takers of dollar equally bought keeping rupee ranged between 77.47-77.60. The US Fed statement minutes later in the night might give some trend to the USDINR pair in futures,” said Jateen Trivedi, VP Research Analyst at LKP Securities.
On the domestic equity market front, the BSE Sensex ended 303.35 points or 0.56 per cent lower at 53,749.26, while the broader NSE Nifty fell 99.35 points or 0.62 per cent to 16,025.80.
The dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, rose 0.36 per cent to 102.22.
Foreign institutional investors were net sellers in the capital market Tuesday as they offloaded shares worth Rs 2,393.45 crore, as per stock exchange data.
Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, surged 1.26 per cent to USD 114.99 per barrel.