Rupee rises 29 paise to close at 73.00 against US dollar

The rupee strengthened further by 29 paise to close at 73.00 against US dollar on Tuesday, marking fourth straight session of gain following a firm trend in domestic equities and foreign fund inflows.

The rupee strengthened further by 29 paise to close at 73.00 (provisional) against the US dollar on Tuesday, marking the fourth straight session of gain following a firm trend in domestic equities and foreign fund inflows.

At the interbank forex market, the local unit opened at 73.26 against the greenback and later gained strength to settle at 73.00, higher by 29 paise over its previous close of 73.29.

The local unit moved in a range of 72.99 to 73.29 in the day trade.

The rupee has spurted by 124 paise against the dollar in four straight sessions to Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading down 0.12 at 92.54.

"Rupee appreciation continues for the fourth day in row and became the best performing currency among Asian currencies following rebound in economic activities along with huge foreign fund inflows," Dilip Parmar, Research Analyst, HDFC Securities, said.

Markets are pricing continuation of inflows from foreigners after regulatory curb by the Chinese government. Apart from speculative inflows, FDI inflows are also supporting the local currency, Parmar said.

"Spot USDINR is expected head towards June low of 72.32 once the level of 72.74 breaches while on higher side 73.64 becomes the strong resistance," he added.

On the domestic equity market front, the BSE Sensex ended 662.63 points or 1.16 per cent higher at a lifetime high of 57,552.39, while the broader NSE Nifty advanced 201.15 points or 1.19 per cent to a record closing of 17,132.20.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, fell 0.83 per cent to USD 72.80 per barrel.

Foreign institutional investors were net buyers in the capital market on Monday as they purchased shares worth Rs 1,202.81 crore, exchange data showed.