Rupee recovers, gains 5 paise to 84.83 against US dollar in early trade

The rupee saw some recovery from its all-time low level and appreciated 5 paise to 84.83 against the US dollar in early trade on Friday on the back of favourable domestic inflation data.

However, a strengthening American currency and volatile domestic equity markets amid foreign fund outflows capped the recovery in the local unit, forex traders said.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 84.85 and inched up further to 84.83 against the greenback, registering a gain of 5 paise from its previous close.

On Thursday, the rupee fell 5 paise to end the session at the lowest level of 84.88 against the US dollar.

 

The previous record low closing level was recorded on December 9, when the unit settled 20 paise lower at 84.86 against the dollar.

The latest official data released on Thursday showed India's retail inflation declined in November to 5.48 per cent and came within the Reserve Bank's comfort zone mainly due to easing food prices, creating headroom for a rate cut at the central bank's rate-setting panel meeting under new Governor Sanjay Malhotra in February.

The country's industrial production (IIP) growth, however, slowed to 3.5 per cent year-on-year in October 2024, mainly due to poor performance of mining, power and manufacturing, as per official data released on Thursday.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading higher by 0.12 per cent at 106.77.

Analysts said that the dollar has been strengthening after the US inflation numbers came on expected lines, raising hopes for an interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, rose 0.01 per cent to USD 73.42 per barrel in futures trade.

On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share benchmark index Sensex was trading 388.68 points, or 0.48 per cent lower at 80,901.28 points. The Nifty was down 115.20 points, or 0.47 per cent, to 24,433.50 points. Both the indices ended lower on Thursday.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the capital markets on Thursday, as they offloaded shares worth Rs 3,560.01 crore, according to exchange data.