Rupee takes pause after 3-day hectic run, ends at 64.92

The rupee showed signs of fatigue after a three-day stellar rally and ended almost flat at 64.92 against the US currency.
A renewed demand for the greenback from importers alongside the dollar's gains against other currencies overseas predominantly put pressure on the rupee.
Despite a firm start, the home currency succumbed to some volatility, though the undertone remained extremely bullish on the back of abundant capital inflows from foreign investors.
However market reaction to the formal announcement of Brexit was relatively muted.
Meanwhile, domestic equities maintained their upbeat trend as investor sentiment turned highly buoyant after the Lok Sabha approved four legislations to give shape to the much-awaited tax reform -- Goods and Services Tax (GST) amid improved economic prospects.

The local currency resumed firmly higher at 64.87 from Wednesday's closing value of 64.91 at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (forex) market and gained further ground to 64.84 on sustained dollar selling.

But it soon reversed the uptrend and turned weaker on fresh dollar pressure to touch an intra-day low of 64.99.
After trading in a tight-range most of the day, the home currency finally settled little changed at 64.92, showing a mere loss of 1 paisa.
In last three days, it had appreciated by a whopping 61 paise against the dollar.
The RBI, meanwhile, fixed the reference rate for the dollar at 64.9325 and for the euro at 69.8739.

Globally, the dollar regained some lost ground to trade at a nine-day high against a basket of currencies with the euro sagging as the European Central Bank showed no signs of stepping away from monetary easing anytime soon and also ahead of US Gross Domestic Product (GDP) data.
The US dollar index, which measures the greenback's strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was trading higher at 99.94 in early trade.
In cross-currency trade, the rupee also retreated against the pound sterling to finish at 81.00 compared to 80.86 per pound yesterday.
The home unit, however, hardened further against the euro to settle at 69.75 from 70.02 and also edged higher against the Japanese Yen to conclude at 58.44 per 100 yens from 58.54.

On the equity front, the Sensex rose 115.99 points to end at 29,647.42, while broader Nifty firmed up 30 points to finish at a record high of 9,173.75.
In the forward market, premium for dollar declined owing to fresh receivings from exporters.
The benchmark six-month premium for August dropped to 130.5-132.5 paise from 134-136 paise and the far-forward February 2018 contract also moved down to 284-286 compared to 287-289 paise on Wednesday.
On the global commodity front, crude oil prices regained some lost ground after overnight US crude inventory data showed a smaller increase than the expected.