Rupee logs first gain in 3 days, up 5 paise

The rupee today staged a mild recovery after two sessions of losses and edged up 5 paise to end at 64.58 a dollar on fresh selling of the American currency by banks and exporters.
Stable local equity markets after recent steep fall also helped the domestic unit to strengthen against the greenback, though heavy capital outflows kept forex market sentiment little nervous.
A weak dollar overseas trend also weighed on trade.
But, most currency traders refrained from taking large positions as geopolitical tensions continue to dampen the mood, a forex dealer said.
Meanwhile, domestic equities showed some resilience and settled marginally higher - after four days of losses in the face of muted corporate results so far.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth Rs 930.67 crore yesterday, as per exchanges data.

The rupee opened a tad higher at 64.60 from overnight closing of 64.63 at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) Market here and largely traded in a small range with positive bias.
It touched a fresh intra-day high of 64.52 in late afternoon deals before ending at 64.58, revealing a gain of five paise, or 0.08 per cent.
The domestic currency had lost 22 paise in last two trading sessions against the dollar.
The RBI, meanwhile, fixed the reference rate for the dollar at 64.5443 and for the euro at 69.1915.

In worldwide trade, the greenback traded subdued against its major rivals amid doubts over US President Donald Trump's promised fiscal boost, while the prospect of an early British election kept sterling near a six-month peak.
The dollar index, which tracks the US currency against a basket of six major rivals, was trading up 0.13 per cent at 99.55.
In cross-currency trade, the rupee plummeted against the pound sterling to finish at 82.99 from 81.85 per pound and dropped further against the euro to end at 69.27 compared to 69.01 earlier.
The home unit, however remained firm against the Japanese Yen to settle higher at 59.29 per 100 yens from 59.36 yesterday.

On the equity front, the flagship Sensex rebounded 17.47 points to close at 29,336.57, while broader Nifty slipped 1.65 points to 9,103.50.
In the forward market today, premium for dollar continued to slide due to sustained receiving from exporters.
The benchmark six-month premium for September softened to 145-147 paise from 146-148 paise and the far-forward March 2018 also edged lower to 301-303 paise from 303-305 paise yesterday.
In the global commodity front, crude prices traded little changed after an early lift from comments by the secretary- general of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries even as data showed that exports from Saudi Arabia fell to the lowest level in almost two years in February.

The global benchmark Brent crude futures were up 24 cents at USD 55.13 a barrel in early trade.