Rupee falls 11 paise to 82.76 against US dollar

On Wednesday, the rupee settled at 82.65 against the US dollar.Turbulence at Credit Suisse revived fears of a banking crisis, triggering gains in the dollar index as well as gold prices on the back of safe haven buying, according to Gaurang Somaiya, Forex Bullion Analyst, Motilal Oswal Financial Services.Besides, a fall in US retail sales and an eye on European Central Banks policy statement and Philly Fed manufacturing index from the US also weighed on the market sentiment.Data showed retail sales fell 0.4 per cent last month from a 3.2 per cent growth in January.

The rupee fell for the fourth day in a row on Thursday and depreciated by 11 paise to 82.76 against the US dollar amid mixed global equity market cues and foreign fund outflows.

Traders said positive sentiments in the domestic equity market and a weak dollar, however, resisted the decline in the Indian currency.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic unit opened lower at 82.77 against the dollar. It traded between 82.60 and 82.80 levels, and settled at 82.76 against the American currency, registering a fall of 11 paise against its previous close.

This is the fourth consecutive day of decline in the rupee. On Wednesday, the rupee settled at 82.65 against the US dollar.

Turbulence at Credit Suisse revived fears of a banking crisis, triggering gains in the dollar index as well as gold prices on the back of safe haven buying, according to Gaurang Somaiya, Forex & Bullion Analyst, Motilal Oswal Financial Services.

Besides, a fall in US retail sales and an eye on European Central Bank's policy statement and Philly Fed manufacturing index from the US also weighed on the market sentiment.

''Data showed retail sales fell 0.4 per cent last month from a 3.2 per cent growth in January. US Treasuries tumbled after expectations of a sharper rate hike by the Fed dropped.

''Today, the focus will be on the ECB policy statement and Philly Fed manufacturing index from the US. We expect the USD/INR (Spot) to trade sideways and quote in the range of 82.40 and 83.05,'' Somaiya said.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, fell 0.25 per cent to 104.38.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude futures rose 1.23 per cent to USD 74.60 per barrel.

On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share BSE Sensex rose 78.94 points or 0.14 per cent to 57,634.84 points while the broader NSE Nifty rose 13.45 points or 0.08 per cent to 16,985.60 points.

On Thursday, Asian and European shares were trading on a mixed note against the backdrop of concerns over the health of the global banking system in the wake of bank failures in the US and problems at Swiss major Credit Suisse.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) remained net sellers in the domestic capital market on Thursday as they offloaded shares worth Rs 282.06 crore, according to exchange data. ''...the rupee fell once touching 82.60 towards 82.80 as Asian currencies kept trading weak. Going ahead rupee trend to continue weakness towards 83.00 and the range can be seen between 82.55-83.00,'' said Jateen Trivedi, VP Research Analyst at LKP Securities.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)