Rupee falls 22 paise to close at 82.47 against US dollar

Mumbai: The rupee depreciated by 22 paise to close at 82.47 (provisional) against the US dollar on Thursday, weighed down by a stronger American currency in the overseas market and elevated crude oil prices.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic unit opened at 82.36 against the dollar and settled at 82.47 (provisional), down 22 paise from its previous close.

During the day, the rupee touched a high of 82.36 and a low of 82.55 against the greenback.

On Wednesday, the rupee had settled at 82.25 against the dollar.

Forex traders said the US dollar gained on safe-haven demand amid risk aversion and rising expectations of a hawkish US Federal Reserve monetary policy in July.

The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, witnesssed a marginal decline of 0.11 per cent to 103.26. Despite the fall, the dollar index is trading at elevated levels of 103 and this weighed on the domestic unit.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, advanced 0.29 per cent to USD 76.87 per barrel.

"The Indian rupee registered the biggest single-day loss in a month against the US dollar following the hawkish June FOMC minutes and short covering from the rupee bulls," said Dilip Parmar, Research Analyst, HDFC Securities.

Parmar further noted that Spot USDINR is expected to head towards 82.80 and is expected to find support around 82.10.

On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share BSE Sensex closed 339.60 points or 0.52 per cent higher to touch an all-time high of 65,785.64 points. The broader NSE Nifty advanced 98.80 points or 0.51 per cent to its life-time high of 19,497.30 points.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net buyers in the capital markets on Wednesday as they purchased shares worth Rs 1,603.15 crore, according to exchange data.