Rupee rebounds 44 paise to 76.56 against dollar as oil prices retreat

The rupee appreciated 44 paise to 76.56 (provisional) against the US dollar on Wednesday following a retreat in crude oil prices and rebound in domestic equities. At the interbank forex market, the local unit opened at 76.90 against the greenback and witnessed an intra-day high of 76.55 and a low of 76.92.

The rupee quoted 76.56 at 1530 hrs, registering a rise of 44 paise over its previous close. On Tuesday, the rupee fell 7 paise to close at a lifetime low of 77 against the US dollar, weighed by surging crude oil prices.

Rupee appreciated following a rebound in risk assets and expectations of inflows in bond markets as global fund houses exclude the Russian debt from bond indices, said Dilip Parmar, Research Analyst, HDFC Securities. Equities seem supported ahead of a meeting between Ukraine and Russian foreign ministers in Turkey tomorrow in which some kind of ceasefire can emerge in Ukraine, Parmar added.

"Rupee bears seem to be taking rest before pushing towards 77.60. In the near term, we are expecting consolidation in the range of 76.40 to 76.90," he noted.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, fell 0.40 per cent to 98.66. Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, were trading 1.88 per cent lower at USD 125.57 per barrel.

On the domestic equity market front, the BSE Sensex ended 1,223.24 points or 2.29 per cent higher at 54,647.33, while the broader NSE Nifty surged 331.90 points or 2.07 per cent to 16,345.35. Foreign institutional investors remained net sellers in the capital market on Tuesday as they offloaded shares worth Rs 8,142.60 crore, as per stock exchange data.