Rupee opens lower at 69.09 a dollar against the last close of 68.94 a dollar

The Indian currency Rupee opened lower at 69.09 a dollar against the previous close of 68.94 a dollar on Wednesday amid sustained selling by foreign institutional investors. Yesterday, the Rupee ended marginally lower amid strengthening of the US dollar against major currencies and continuous foreign fund outflows. Rupee ended at 68.94 per dollar against the last settlement of 68.9125 per dollar on Tuesday. “USD-INR trading range for the day is 68.79-69.17. The rupee traded in range on selling by exporters but oil bids and a strong greenback may support,” said Kedia Advisory.

The dollar-rupee July contract on the NSE was at 68.98 in the previous session. Open interest declined 10.18% in the previous session. ICICI Securities expect the US$INR to find supports at lower levels. It suggested utilising downsides in the pair to initiate long positions. The brokerage firm has recommended, “buy US$INR in the range of 69.08-69.12.”

Meanwhile, the RBI governor Shaktikanta Das on Monday indicated that the further rate cuts would depend upon the incoming data like inflation and growth numbers. “The accommodative stance will depend on how inflation numbers look, how the growth numbers look. Primarily on how inflation looks,” Das said in an interview with Bloomberg. On Monday, Rupee depreciated by 11 paise against the dollar and closed at 68.92 a dollar on the back of higher crude oil prices and FPI outflows.

On Jul 23, the foreign institutional investors or FIIs sold equity worth Rs 2607.97 crores. The net value of domestic institutional investors stood at Rs 2,625.1 crores on the same day. Today, the Indian headline indices – Sensex and Nifty opened higher tracking global cues. While the Sensex is up 100 points to 38,082, the Nifty is trading near the 11,350-mark. Yes Bank, HDFC shares are among the biggest gainers, jumping up to 3%. L&T and M&M are down by more than 1% each.