Rupee marginally up at 63.63 against US dollar

The rupee surrendered most of its early strong gains but eventually managed to end higher by a modest three paise at 63.63 against the US dollar in a highly volatile trade.
Fresh bouts of dollar selling by local corporates and exporters along with growing expectations of more foreign fund inflows largely supported the recovery momentum.
Staging a rebound, the rupee resumed on a positive note at 63.60 from previous close of 63.66 at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (forex) market on fresh selling of the US currency by exporters and bank.
Consolidating further gains, the local unit touched an intra-day high of 63.46 in early session before drifting down.

After plunging to a fresh low of 63.72 in the late afternoon deals, it managed to regain some lost ground and settled marginally higher at 63.63, revealing a gain of 3 paise or 0.05 per cent.
The home currency swung widely between a high of 63.46 and a low of 63.72.

For the week, the rupee lost 26 paise against the greenback, snapping a two-straight week rally.
A highly bullish local equities along with weakening of dollar against other currencies overseas also aided the uptrend despite sustained capital outflows.
Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth Rs 623.63 crore on net basis.

The US dollar was broadly weaker against its major traded rivals.
Though, extreme caution reigned supreme ahead of key macro data releases -- IIP and retail inflation numbers -- later in the day.
In the international commodity front, global crude prices slipped away from multi-year highs reached the previous day on modest profit-selling by traders.
Brent crude futures were trading weak at USD 68.99 a barrel in early Asian trading.
Meanwhile, domestic bourses continued their record- setting run for the second straight session on strong earning hopes as investors went on a buying spree in select frontline counters like ICICI Bank, Reliance Industries and HDFC.

Most Asian stocks ended with slight gains in response to a stronger overnight Wall Street session.
The flagship BSE Sensex jumped 89 points to end at 34,592.39, while Nifty rose 30 points at 10,681.25.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback's value against a basket of six major currencies, was down at 91.10 in early trade.
Globally, the dollar hit fresh four-month lows against other major currencies as overnight downbeat US economic reports continued to weigh down on trade.
In cross-currency trades, the rupee fell back against the pound sterling to settle at 86.77 per pound from 85.81 and retreated against the Japanese yen to finish at 57.27 per 100 yens from 57.01 earlier.

The home unit dropped sharply by 115 paise against the euro to end at 77.19 compared to 76.04 yesterday.
Elsewhere, the euro surged ahead to hit its highest level in three years against the US dollar following a breakthrough in German coalition talks to form a so-called Grand coalition.
The euro has been boosted massively in last two trading days by political and economic news.
In forward market today, premium for dollar displayed steady to weak trend due to lack of market moving factors.
The benchmark six-month premium payable in June held steady at 129-131 paise, while the far forward December 2018 contract eased to 266.50-268.50 paise from 267-269 paise previously.