Rupee falls 35 paise to close at 81.26 against US dollar on forex outflows

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The rupee depreciated by 35 paise to close at 81.26 against the US dollar on Wednesday on disappointing trade data and foreign fund outflows.

Forex traders said a negative bias on risk aversion in global markets weighed on the local unit.

At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local unit opened at 81.41 and later witnessed an intraday high of 81.23 and a low of 81.58 during the session.

The domestic unit finally settled at 81.26 against the American currency, registering a fall of 35 paise over its last close.

On Tuesday, the rupee appreciated 37 paise to close at 80.91 against the US dollar.

"The Indian rupee depreciated on risk aversion in global markets and weak Asian currencies. Disappointing macroeconomic data from FII outflows also weighed on Rupee," said Anuj Choudhary - Research Analyst at Sharekhan by BNP Paribas.

"The Indian Rupee weakened on Wednesday on dollar demand from importers and weakness in Asian currencies. A decline in USD/INR forward premiums also made it attractive for importers to hedge, leading to more dollar outflows," said Sriram Iyer, Senior Research Analyst at Reliance Securities.

Some support came in the form of a falling dollar and easing geopolitical tensions in Europe.

Indian bond yields ended marginally higher on Wednesday, as traders booked profit. The benchmark Indian 10-year bond yield ended at 7.272 per cent, after closing at 7.261 per cent on Tuesday.

In the overseas markets, the dollar index and the bond yields fell on Wednesday afternoon trade as investors continued to bet that the US Fed will soon slow its aggressive rate hike path.

On the domestic macroeconomic front, India's exports entered negative territory after a gap of about two years, declining sharply by 16.65 per cent to USD 29.78 billion in October. Trade deficit widened to USD 26.91 billion, according to data released by the commerce ministry on Tuesday.

"We expect Rupee to trade with a negative bias on risk aversion in global markets and Dollar demand from importers. However, weak Dollar and decline in crude oil prices may prevent sharp fall in rupee," Choudhary said.

Geopolitical tensions eased somewhat after investigations revealed that the missile which hit Poland was fired from Ukraine and not Russia.

"Investors may also remain cautious ahead of retail sales and industrial production data from the US. USDINR spot price is expected to trade in a range of Rs 80.50 to Rs 82.50," Choudhary added.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, fell 0.28 per cent to 106.10.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude futures advanced 0.47 per cent to USD 94.30 per barrel.

On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share BSE Sensex rose 107.73 points or 0.28 per cent to end at 61,980.72, while the broader NSE Nifty advanced 6.25 points or 0.03 per cent to 18,409.65.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net sellers in capital markets as they offloaded shares worth Rs 221.32 crore on Tuesday, according to exchange data.