The rupee declined 12 paise against the US dollar in morning trade on Wednesday to 82.71 as domestic equities trends remained muted, reported PTI. Ahead of the US Federal Reserve’s much-awaited monetary policy decision, which is expected to come later in the day, the rupee opened on a flat note, forex traders said, according to PTI.
At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic unit opened at 82.64 against the dollar, then lost further ground to quote at 82.71, registering a loss of 12 paise over its previous close. In initial trade, the local unit also touched 82.62 against the US dollar. On Tuesday, the rupee settled at 82.59 against the dollar.
On Wednesday, the rupee started on a flat note and Asian and emerging market peers began mixed ahead of the US Fed’s monetary policy decision, said Sriram Iyer, Senior Research Analyst at Reliance Securities, according to the report.
Iyer noted that the Fed is widely expected to deliver its fourth straight 75 basis point rate hike, the key will be hints from Fed Chair Jerome Powell on the path forward.
The report also added that the crude oil prices have started with gains and could cap appreciation bias for the local currency. The dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, fell 0.23 per cent to 111.22. Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, rose 1.27 per cent to $95.85 per barrel.
In the domestic equity market, the 30-share BSE Sensex was trading 8.33 points or 0.01 per cent down at 61,113.01 and the broader NSE Nifty fell 0.04 per cent to 18,141.15.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs)purchased shares worth Rs 2,609.94 crore on Tuesday becoming net buyers in capital markets, according to exchange data.
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