On Wednesday, the rupee lost 11 paise to settle at 82.03 (provisional) against the US dollar as investor optimism was dampened by a strong dollar in the foreign exchange market.
Forex dealers reported that after US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell rekindled concerns about a 50 basis point rate hike at the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting scheduled for March 21–22, 2023, the Dollar index strengthened.
The rupee lost 11 paise from its previous close of 81.92 on Monday to end the day at 82.03 against the dollar on the interbank foreign exchange market.
Stock and money markets were closed on Tuesday on account of Holi.
During the session, the domestic unit witnessed an intra-day high of 81.98 and a low of 82.29 against the American dollar.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.13 per cent higher at 105.75.
Powell said that the latest economic data released in the US are stronger than expected. He also added that the US central bank would be prepared to increase the pace of rate hikes if the totality of the data were to indicate that faster tightening is warranted.
Benchmark Brent crude futures for global crude oil decreased 0.16 percent to USD 83.16 per barrel.
The broad NSE Nifty fell 42.95 points or 0.24 percent to 17,754.40, while the 30-share BSE Sensex ended 123.63 points or 0.21 percent lower at 60,348.09.
According to exchange data, Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net purchasers on Monday in the capital markets, buying shares worth Rs 721.37 crore.
With inputs from Agencies.