Rupee Ends Lower at 95.38 Against Dollar Despite Strong Domestic Markets

The Indian rupee weakened by 20 paise to settle at 95.38 (provisional) against the US dollar on Monday, pressured by a strengthening greenback even as gains in domestic equities and lower crude oil prices helped limit losses.

At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened at 95.25 against the dollar and moved within a range of 95.22 to 95.48 during the trading session. It ended the day at 95.38 , compared with 95.18 on Friday, when it had gained 17 paise.

According to Anuj Choudhary, Research Analyst at Mirae Asset ShareKhan, the rupee came under pressure as the US dollar strengthened , with markets continuing to factor in the possibility of one interest rate hike this year. However, he noted that positive domestic markets and softening crude oil prices provided support to the local currency.

Choudhary added that importer hedging demand could cap any sharp appreciation in the rupee. He expects the USD/INR spot rate to trade between 95.10 and 95.60 , with investors closely tracking the US ISM Services PMI data for further direction.

Meanwhile, the US Dollar Index , which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, rose 0.26 per cent to 101.12 . Brent crude slipped 0.76 per cent to USD 71.57 per barrel in futures trade.

On the domestic front, the Sensex surged 521.16 points to close at 78,285.07 , while the Nifty advanced 159.50 points to 24,430.35 . Foreign institutional investors remained net buyers, purchasing equities worth ₹1,355.33 crore on Friday, while traders said the RBI is likely to utilise fresh foreign inflows to strengthen the country's forex reserves.