The rupee ended little changed at 65.21 against the U.S. dollar on Wednesday 1ahead of the Federal Reserve’s policy meet outcome.
The greenback’s weakness against other currencies overseas helped the domestic unit, market watchers said.
The rupee opened a tad lower at 65.2175 from its overnight closing of 65.20 at the Inter-bank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market in Mumbai and largely traded in a small range with a positive bias.
It touched an intra-day low of 65.23 in late morning deals and a high of 65.19 before ending at 65.21, a modest loss of just one paisa, or 0.02%.
The rupee had lost 37 paise in the previous four straight sessions.
Expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve will tighten its monetary policy supported rupee sentiment initially.
Meanwhile, the benchmark Sensex reclaimed the 33,000-mark by climbing 139.42 points, or 0.42% to end at 33,136.18, while broader Nifty gained 30.90 points to settle at 10,155.25.
Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth ₹98.44 crore on March 21, as per provisional data.
The 10-year bond yield ended at 7.582% compared to its previous close of 7.616%. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.
The RBI, meanwhile, fixed the reference rate for the dollar at 65.2162 as against previous level of 65.1993 and for the euro at 79.9616 as against Tuesday’s 80.4625.
In worldwide trade, the greenback traded lower against most major currencies ahead of outcome of the U.S. Federal Reserve’s policy meet later on Wednesday night.
The dollar index, which tracks the U.S. currency against a basket of six major rivals, was down 0.29% at 89.75.
In cross-currency trades, the rupee rose against the pound sterling to end at 91.3288 from 91.9442 on March 20.
It also strengthened against the Japanese yen to conclude at 61.28 per 100 yens from 61.33 on March 20.
In forward market on March 21, the benchmark six-month premium payable in August moved down to 120-122 from 122.50-124.50 paise and the far-forward February 2019 contract also edged lower to 237-239 paise from 240-242 paise on March 20.
