Rupee ends flat at 64.78 on Fed-inspired jitters

The rupee today ended steady at 64.78 against the US currency in a range-bound trade amid concerns over a possible rate hike by the Federal Reserve.
Forex market sentiment turned subdued after minutes from the Federal Open Market Committee's June meeting struck a hawkish tone indicating a possible rate hike before year-end even with muted inflation levels.
Renewed geopolitical worries against the backdrop of the standoff between the US and North Korea also added to the pressure.
Though, a spectacular rally in local equities and smooth supply of dollars largely averted any major upset.
The domestic unit opened marginally weak at 64.81 against Wednesday's close of 64.78 at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market due to bouts of dollar demand from importers and banks.

But, it eventually reversed its direction and recouped early losses to trade firmly higher at 67.72 for a brief period before slipping back into negative terrain amid lack of market moving factors.

After trading in a tight range most part of the session, the home unit settled the day without any change.
The RBI, meanwhile, fixed the reference rate for the dollar at 64.7779 and for the euro at 73.4322.
Currency traders preferred to stay on sidelines as the US dollar traded near its one-week high overseas and also supported by upcoming US economic and jobs data.
Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) turned net buyers after recent selling spree and bought shares worth a net Rs 227.57 crore yesterday, as per provisional data.

Domestic bourses witnessed a stunning rally on the back of strong follow-up buying interest in key front-line heavyweights amid expectations of good monsoon.
The flagship Sensex jumped over 123 points to end at a new closing peak of 31,369.34, while broader Nifty rose nearly 37 points to finish at 9,674.55 after briefly reclaiming the psychologically significant 9,700-mark.
The dollar index, which tracks the US currency against a basket of six major rivals, was down at 95.77.
In cross-currency trades, the rupee retreated sharply against the pound sterling to end at 83.86 from 83.67 per pound and fell back against the euro to end at 73.65 from 73.41 yesterday.

The local currency also drifted against the Japanese yen to finish at 57.15 per 100 yens from 57.04 earlier.
In forward market today, premium for dollar remained under pressure due to consistent receivings from exporters.
The benchmark six-month premium payable in December declined to 138-140 paise from 141-143 paise and the far forward June 2018 contract also edged lower to 282-284 paise from 285-287 paise.
On the international commodity front, crude prices rose on Thursday, recovering some ground after a surprisingly upbeat picture of US demand halted the previous day's steep slide.
Brent crude futures were trading up 74 cents, or 1.6 per cent, at USD 48.53 per barrel in early Asian trade.