Mumbai: The Indian rupee on Friday secured its fifth gain in a row and settled at 74.15 against the US dollar after the Reserve Bank came out with policy rates in line with market expectations and focused on economic recovery.
At the interbank forex market, the rupee opened at 74.11 and hit an intra-day high of 74.10 and a low of 74.22. It finally closed at 74.15, higher by 2 paise over its last close.
On a weekly basis, the rupee rose 27 paise over the US dollar.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday decided to keep benchmark interest rate unchanged at 4 per cent but maintained an accommodative stance as the economy is yet to recover from the impact of second COVID wave.
The RBI, however, raised the retail inflation projection for the current fiscal to 5.7 per cent on account of supply side impediments, firm crude oil prices and higher cost of raw materials.
“Indian rupee appreciated every single day of this week following strong foreign fund inflows and record-high domestic equity indices. However, the momentum and volume remained calm in absence of fresh cues,” said Dilip Parmar, Research Analyst, HDFC Securities.
In the bi-monthly policy meeting, the RBI continued with its line of supporting growth despite the recent spikes in inflation and held the interest rate and stance unchanged, he said.
The rupee is retracing from July high and heading towards psychological support of 74, which is also 50 days simple moving average, Parmar said.
Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, rose 0.59 per cent to USD 71.71 per barrel.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, advanced 0.18 per cent to 92.41.
On the domestic equity market front, the BSE Sensex ended 215.12 points or 0.39 per cent lower at 54,277.72, while the broader NSE Nifty declined 56.40 points or 0.35 per cent to 16,238.20.
Meanwhile, foreign institutional investors were net sellers in the capital market on Thursday as they offloaded shares worth Rs 719.88 crore, as per exchange data.
—PTI

Press Trust of India