Rupee falls 13 paise to close at 82.73 against US dollar

Mumbai: The rupee depreciated further by 13 paise to close at 82.73 (provisional) against the US dollar on Friday, weighed down by losses in domestic markets and a rise in crude oil prices.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic unit opened at 82.68 against the dollar and settled at 82.73 (provisional), down 13 paise from its previous close.

During the day, the rupee touched a high of 82.63 and a low of 82.75 against the greenback.

On Thursday, the rupee had settled at 82.60 against the dollar.

The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, witnessed a marginal decline of 0.10 per cent to 103.05.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, advanced 0.59 per cent to USD 76.97 per barrel.

The rupee depreciated on a weak tone in domestic markets and a rise in crude oil prices. The surge in short-term bond yields in the US and the UK amid a hawkish tone of the central banks also put pressure on the rupee, said Anuj Choudhary - Research Analyst at Sharekhan by BNP Paribas.

However, the soft US dollar prevented a sharp fall. Most economic data releases from the US were stronger than forecast.

"We expect the rupee to trade with a negative bias on risk aversion in global markets and rising bond yields. However, sustained FII inflows may support rupee at lower levels," Choudhary said.

Market participants may remain cautious ahead of US non-farm payrolls, unemployment rate and hourly earnings data.

"A strong labour market would reinforce expectations of a rate hike by the FOMC in July. We expect the USDINR spot to trade between 82.30 to 83.30 in the near term," Choudhary added.

On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share BSE Sensex closed 505.19 points or 0.77 per cent lower at 65,280.45 points. The broader NSE Nifty declined 165.50 points or 0.85 per cent at 19,331.80 points.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net buyers in the capital markets on Thursday as they purchased shares worth Rs 2,641.05 crore, according to exchange data.