Rupee rises 9 paise to close at 82.94 against US dollar

Mumbai: The rupee appreciated 9 paise to close at 82.94 (provisional) against the US dollar on Tuesday amid fresh foreign fund inflows and expectations of better macroeconomic data.

Forex traders said the Indian rupee appreciated on Tuesday as domestic markets hit fresh record highs after Nifty breached the 20,000-mark for the first time on Monday.

At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local unit opened at 82.93 against the US dollar and moved in a range of 82.86 to 83.01 in the day trade.

The rupee finally settled 9 paise higher at 82.94 (provisional) against the previous close.

On Monday, the rupee closed on a flat note at 83.03 against the American currency.

"Indian rupee outperforms among the Asian currencies on the central bank's dollar selling ahead of the inflation data. The expectation of ease in India's inflation numbers and better industrial output, which will be released after the market closes, supported the rupee," Dilip Parmar, Research Analyst at HDFC Securities, said.

Spot USD-INR has support at 82.80 and resistance at 83.15. In the short term, the pair is likely to consolidate in a narrow range before heading higher while the medium-term trend remains bullish, Parmar said.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, rose 0.18 per cent to 104.76.

"The greenback is a marginally better bid as the market sits and waits for tomorrow's August US CPI release and ECB monetary policy decision. A hawkish tone from the US CPI data and a hike from the ECB could push the greenback further higher," Parmar added.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, advanced 0.81 per cent to USD 91.37 per barrel.

On the domestic equity market front, the BSE Sensex closed 94.05 points or 0.14 per cent higher at 67,221.13 points. The broader NSE Nifty declined 3.15 points or 0.02 per cent to 19,993.20 Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net buyers in the capital markets on Monday as they purchased shares worth Rs 1,473.09 crore, according to exchange data.