The Indian rupee declined 4 paise to close at 83.43 against the US dollar on the back of consolidation in a narrow band- in this range. The rupee was placed in jeopardy due to a strong dollar and a rise in oil, which was the root cause. The currency traders found a probability finance factor in the domestic equities that was rather subdued. This affected the trading atmosphere of these equities. Starting at 83.47, the rupee gained more strength intra-day to 83.34 and 83.44 to the greenback before closing at 83.43.
Forecast by Aunj Choudhary, a Research Analyst at Sharekhan by BNP Paribas, the rupee is possibly underselling due to the strong USD and subdued Indian fundaments. Catching fire amidst rising crude oil prices may still create a problem from the rupee’s performance point of view. Market players will closely track the JOLTS (Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey) and the U. S. Federal Reserve officials’ speeches for clues of future policies. USD/INR counter attached to the spot price of ₹83.20 and ₹83.60 are expected to trade.
Some other market benchmarks witnessed the dollar index, which measures the dollar’s strength against other currencies, decline marginally to 104.96. Brent Crude oil futures, the global oil benchmark, rose by 1.78% to reach $88.98 a barrel.
The Sensex had a risk-off day, falling 110.64 points to settle at 73,903.91, while the Nifty dropped 8.70 points in the day and wrapped up at 22,453.30. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) ended up as the net sellers, as against the shares worth ₹522.30 crore they sold off.
India’s foreign reserves have reached the new peak of USD 642.631 billion, and it has been a $140 million increase from the week ended on 19th, March 2019. Apart from that, the April Manufacturing PMI for India struck a 16-year high by achieving a value of 59.1, indicative of a healthy, robust manufacturing sector. Gross sales tax collections saw an 11.5% growth in March, standing at ₹1,781 billion, with the domestically produced goods sale on the incline.
