Rupee settles 3 paise lower at 88.75 against dollar

Mumbai, Sep 29 (PTI) Rupee consolidated in a narrow range and settled for the day lower by 3 paise at 88.75 against the US dollar on Monday, on persistent foreign capital outflows and rise in risk-off sentiments.

Forex traders said rupee is hovering near its all-time low level as investors remained concerned over global trade uncertainties and impact of US visa fee hike on India's IT services exports.

Moreover, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) policy meeting outcome on October 1, is expected to influence rupee and government bond movements.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 88.69 against the US dollar, and traded in the range of 88.69-88.81. It finally settled for the day at 88.75, registering a loss of 3 paise.

On Friday, the rupee rebounded from its all-time low to close 4 paise higher at 88.72 against the US dollar.

The rupee fell to its lifetime low of 88.76 against the American currency on September 25.

"We expect the rupee to remain weak on weak domestic markets and elevated crude oil prices. Month-end dollar demand from importers may also pressurise the rupee. However, weakness in the US dollar and any intervention by the RBI may support rupee at lower levels," said Anuj Choudhary, Research Analyst Currency and commodities Mirae Asset ShareKhan.

Choudhary added that traders may take cues from core pending home sales data from the US and President Donald Trump's speech. Investors will also watch out for the RBI's MPC decision this week.

Dilip Parmar, Research Analyst, HDFC Securities, said, "​The rupee... exhibited marked underperformance among Asian currencies. This depreciation is attributable to sustained month-end demand for the US dollar and significant outflows of foreign institutional funds from domestic equity markets, collectively dampening investor sentiment.

"In the near-term outlook for the spot USD/INR pair remains bullish with critical support at 88.25 and key resistance at 89.10," he added.

The Reserve Bank's Monetary Policy Committee began its three-day deliberations amid expectations of status quo on the key interest rate, but some experts think that the central bank may settle for a 25 bps cut.

The decision of RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra-headed six-member rate-setting panel will be announced on Wednesday. The meeting is taking place against the backdrop of ongoing geopolitical tensions and the US imposing 50 per cent tariffs on Indian shipments.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading at 97.96, lower by 0.19 per cent.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading 1.37 per cent lower at USD 69.17 per barrel in futures trade.

On the domestic equity market front, the Sensex declined 61.52 points to settle at 80,364.94, while Nifty dipped 19.80 points to 24,634.90.

Foreign Institutional Investors offloaded equities worth Rs 2,831.59 crore on Monday, according to exchange data.

Meanwhile, the US has announced the imposition of a 100 per cent tariff on branded or patented drugs entering the US from October 1, except for pharmaceutical companies building manufacturing plants in the US.

The exemption covers projects where construction has started, including sites that have broken ground or are under construction.

India's forex reserves dropped USD 396 million to USD 702.57 billion for the week ended September 19, according to the RBI data.

In the previous reporting week, the overall reserves had jumped USD 4.698 billion to USD 702.966 billion. PTI DRR TRB