Rupee ends unchanged at 71.28 against US dollar

The Indian rupee settled unchanged at 71.28 against the US dollar on Tuesday ahead of the release of key domestic macroeconomic data.

Forex traders said the rupee continued to consolidate in a narrow range ahead of inflation and industrial production figures scheduled to be released on Wednesday.

At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local currency opened on a positive note at 71.23. During the day, it saw a high of 71.19 and a low of 71.33.

The Indian currency finally finished at 71.28, same as its previous close on Monday.

"Expectation is that inflation could inch higher and the same time IIP could witness slower growth. Weaker-than-expected number could keep the currency under pressure. We expect the USD/INR (Spot) to quote in the range of 71.25 and 71.80," said Gaurang Somaiyaa, Forex & Bullion Analyst, Motilal Oswal Financial Services.

"The local currency under-performed among Asian currencies as result of Delhi Assembly election (which) marked third setback for BJP, after losing Jharkhand and Maharashtra," said V K Sharma, Head PCG and Capital Markets Strategy, HDFC Securities.

The Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party was on Tuesday set for a resounding victory in the Delhi assembly elections to retain power for the third term.

AAP was leading in 63 seats, the BJP in seven constituencies while the Congress drew a blank in the 70-member assembly, according to the latest vote tally.

"Undertone is positive for rupee as overall Crude prices at bottom levels support rupee which is less to depreciate in case of Crude trading near lows," said Jateen Trivedi, Senior Research Analyst (Commodity & Currency) at LKP Securities.

The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, slipped 0.01 per cent to 98.82.

The 10-year Indian government bond yield was at 6.47 per cent.

Meanwhile, Brent crude rose 2.18 per cent to trade at USD 54.43 per barrel.

Broadly, crude prices have seen some moderation in the past few sessions over demand slump amid rising coronavirus cases in China and other regions.

On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share BSE Sensex settled 236.52 points, or 0.58 per cent, higher at 41,216.14. Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty rose 76.40 points, or 0.64 per cent, to 12,107.90.

Foreign institutional investors sold equities worth Rs 209.39 crore on a net basis on Tuesday, according to provisional exchange data.

The Financial Benchmark India Private Ltd (FBIL) set the reference rate for the rupee/dollar at 71.3046 and for rupee/euro at 78.1118. The reference rate for rupee/British pound was fixed at 92.0162 and for rupee/100 Japanese yen at 64.93.