The rupee settled on a flat note at 74.62 against the US dollar on Friday as importers and banks’ demand for the greenback continued to exert pressure on the Indian currency. At the interbank forex market, the domestic unit opened at 74.63 a dollar and witnessed an intra-day high of 74.47 and a low of 74.71. The local unit finally closed at 74.62 against the American currency, registering a rise of 2 paise over its previous close. On Thursday, the Indian rupee settled at 74.64 against the US dollar. The rupee was trading in a narrow range on Friday considering the weak demand for riskier assets on the occasion of Dhanteras, Ankit Agarwal Managing Director, Alankit Limited, said.“The rapidly rising COVID-19 cases in the US overshadowed the optimism on a COVID vaccine that had supported sentiment earlier this week. It is expected that the Indian currency may weigh down by dollar purchases to be made by the Reserve Bank of India,” Mr. Agarwal added. Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, was down 0.15% to 92.82. On the domestic equity market front, the BSE Sensex ended 85.81 points or 0.20% higher at 43,443, while the broader NSE Nifty rose 29.15 points or 0.23% to 12,719.95. Foreign institutional investors were net buyers in the capital market as they purchased shares worth ₹ 1,514.12 crore on a net basis on Thursday, according to exchange data. Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, fell 0.60% to USD 43.27 per barrel.
