Rupee opens on flat note against US dollar

The rupee opened on a flat note and was trading in a narrow range against the US dollar in opening session on Friday, even as the domestic equity market traded with gains. At the interbank forex market, the domestic unit opened at 73.65 against the US dollar, then gained ground and touched 73.63 against the American currency. In volatile trade, the local unit also touched 73.69 against the American currency.

On Thursday, the rupee snapped its two-day winning streak to close 9 paise lower at 73.66 against the US dollar.

“Weakness of the US dollar, optimism surrounding vaccine development, dollar inflows into local equities and strong Asian currencies could keep depreciation bias limited.

“On the other hand, Brexit deal impasse and RBI’s presence in the market could keep appreciation bias limited,” Reliance Securities said in a research note.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, was down 0.20 per cent to 90.60.

On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share BSE benchmark Sensex was trading 309.20 points higher at 46,269.08, and the broader NSE Nifty rose 87.55 points to 13,565.85.

Foreign institutional investors were net buyers in the capital market as they purchased shares worth Rs 2,259.98 crore on a net basis on Thursday, according to exchange data.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, rose 0.22 per cent to USD 50.36 per barrel.

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