The rupee ended nearly flat on Wednesday (February 18), closing at 90.68 against the US dollar, compared with 90.72 in the previous session. During the day, the local unit opened at 90.60 and moved in a narrow range of 90.59 to 90.71 in the interbank foreign exchange market.
Traders attributed the range-bound movement to a mix of importer and exporter flows, along with intermittent dollar sales by state-run banks. Foreign fund inflows and firm domestic equities lent some support to the currency, while higher global crude oil prices and a slightly stronger dollar capped further gains.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six currencies, was up 0.08% at 97.22. Brent crude futures rose 0.22% to $67.57 per barrel.
Domestic equities, meanwhile, began the trade on a positive note on Thursday (Febraury 19) but soon turned in the negative territory, amid selling pressure in services and consumer durables stocks.
The 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 245.11 points, or 0.29%, to 83,979.36 in early deals. The NSE Nifty went up 65.95 points, or 0.25%, to 25,885.30.
However, both the benchmark indices soon pared early gains, with the Sensex quoting 131.07 points lower at 83,603.18, and the Nifty down 30.70 points at 25,788.65.
Among the Sensex constituents, IndiGo, Asian Paints, Adani Ports, Bharat Electronics Ltd, ITC, Trent, Larsen & Toubro, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Axis Bank, PowerGrid, Reliance Industries, and Bajaj Finance were the laggards.
On the other hand, Infosys, HCL Technologies, Tata Consultancy Services, Tech Mahindra, Maruti Suzuki India, Hindustan Unilever, State Bank of India, Bharti Airtel and NTPC were trading in the green territory.
–With agencies inputs
