Rupee rises 5 paise to 78.05 against dollar amid foreign capital outflow

The rupee advanced 5 paise to settle at 78.05 against the US dollar on Friday amid a muted trend in domestic equities and unabated foreign capital outflows.

A strong dollar overseas and higher crude prices also capped the gains, forex dealers said.

At the interbank forex market, the rupee opened strong at 78.03 against the greenback and witnessed an intra-day high of 78.02 and a low of 78.10.

It finally ended at 78.05, registering a gain of 5 paise over its previous close of 78.10.

The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, climbed 0.71 per cent to 104.37.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, spurted 0.96 per cent to USD 120.96 per barrel.

Sliding for the sixth straight session, the BSE Sensex ended 135.37 points or 0.26 per cent lower at 51,360.42, while the broader NSE Nifty fell 67.10 points or 0.44 per cent to 15,293.50.

Foreign institutional investors remained net sellers in the capital market on Friday as they offloaded shares worth Rs 7,818.61 crore, as per exchange data.

"The Rupee has managed to erase its losses after hitting a low of 78.30 this week. The US Dollar index retraced after the US Fed chair in his comments did calm the markets by saying 'today's 75-basis-point increase is an unusually large one, and I do not expect moves of this size to be common'," Emkay Global Financial Services said in a note.

The Fed on Wednesday announced its biggest rate hike of 75 bps since 1994 and maintained that bringing down inflation will remain its top priority.

"Looking ahead, markets will be keenly watching on to whether Russia and Ukraine look to come back to the negotiation table as suggested by a few reports. Also, a recovery in global equity markets from oversold levels can trigger a further recovery in the Rupee towards 77.75/77.60 levels," it added.