Mumbai : The rupee tumbled by 19 paise to end at more than two-year low of 66.76 against the US dollar on month-end demand for the American currency from importers and some banks. Besides, persistent foreign capital outflows affected the market sentiment, forex dealers said.
The domestic currency opened lower by 66.66 as against Thursday’s closing level of 66.57 at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market and dropped further to 66.89 before ending at more than 2-year low of 66.76, showing a loss of 19 paise or 0.29 per cent. The rupee had last ended at 67.07 on September 4, 2013.
The local currency has dropped 44 paise, or 0.66 per cent, in two days. The dollar index was up by 0.13% against the basket of six major currencies.
Dealers said that upbeat sentiment surrounding the US dollar post a slew of positive US economic data released earlier this week has strengthened hopes of an interest rate-hike in the US in December. With the exception of the Turkish lira, flight to the safety of the dollar has largely subsided following the Turkish military’s downing of a Russian fighter.
Attention is now on the European Central Bank’s policy meeting on December 3, and the magnitude of potential easing steps, traders said. The unit is expected to trade in a narrow range on Monday on caution ahead of Reserve Bank of India’s fifth bi-monthly policy review for 2015-16 on Tuesday.
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Sensex gains on GST optimism
Mumbai: The market marked its second straight week of gains after the BSE Sensex surged about 170 points to close at 26,128.20 — an over 3-week high — spurred by hopes that the government will push for a compromise on the GST Bill in the ongoing winter session of Parliament. Sentiment turned bullish after Prime Minister Narendra Modi invited Congress President Sonia Gandhi and senior Congress leader Manmohan Singh for tea, during which the GST issue may come up. The beginning of December futures and options series came as a catalyst, which saw participants creating fresh bets.
The market trend next week will be based on the outcome of the Reserve Bank of India’s monetary policy meeting, India’s economic data, ongoing Winter Session of the Parliament, US Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen’s remarks and other global factors, dealers said.
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