Rupee advances to 75.91 against US dollar on low crude prices

The rupee advanced on Monday to close marginally higher at 75.91 against the US dollar on easing crude oil prices while forex outflows and weak domestic equities limited its gains.

At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened at 75.94 against the American dollar and oscillated between a high of 75.79 and a low of 76.09 during the session.

The rupee finally settled at 75.91 against the dollar, up by 2 paise from the previous close. On Friday, the rupee appreciated by 10 paise to settle at 75.93 against the US dollar.

"Rupee continued to trade in a range after the RBI in its policy meeting held rates unchanged but downgraded its growth forecast and estimates of inflation were revised higher.

"Overall, the commentary was a little hawkish and the impact of the same was seen on the rupee. On the domestic front, market participants will be keeping an eye on the inflation and industrial production number and that could provide volatility in the currency," said Gaurang Somaiya, Forex & Bullion Analyst, Motilal Oswal Financial Services.

Somaiya further said that the rupee is expected to trade sideways with a positive bias and quote in the range of 75.50 and 76.20.

According to Jateen Trivedi, Senior Research Analyst at LKP Securities, the rupee traded volatile between 75.75-76.06 amid weakness in crude and strength in the dollar index.

"Strength was seen majorly every time prices tried hands to stay below 76.00 as the USDINR pair witnessed selling once above 76.00. Going ahead, major strength for the rupee will be near 76.00 and the hurdle near 75.50," Trivedi said.

Meanwhile, the US dollar index, which measures the greenback's strength against the basket of six currencies, fell 0.09 per cent to 99.71.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, fell 2.37 per cent to USD 100.34 per barrel.

On the domestic equity market front, the BSE Sensex ended 482.61 points or 0.81 per cent lower at 58,964.57, while the broader NSE Nifty declined 109.40 points or 0.62 per cent to 17,674.95.

Foreign institutional investors were net sellers in the capital market on Friday, as they offloaded shares worth Rs 1,145.24 crore, according to the stock exchange data.