Rupee ends flat against U.S. dollar

The Indian rupee reversed all its intra-day losses to close almost flat at 74.24 (provisional) against the U.S. dollar on Friday, tracking a strong rally in domestic equities.

Besides, a weak American currency against its major rivals and lower crude prices also helped the rupee to recover, forex dealers said.

At the interbank forex market, the local unit opened weak at 74.27 against the U.S. dollar and remained in the negative territory for most of the session. However, towards the fag-end of the session, the local unit recovered all its losses. The rupee witnessed an intra-day high of 74.24 and a low of 74.32 during the session.

It finally ended at 74.24 against the American currency, registering a gain of 1 paisa over its previous close.

On Thursday, the rupee had settled at 74.25 against the U.S. dollar.

Closing above the 55,000-mark for the first time, the BSE Sensex rose 593.31 points or 1.08 % to an all-time high of 55,437.29.

Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty breached the 16,500-level, advancing 164.70 points or 1.01 % to a new closing peak of 16,529.10. It surged to a record of 16,543.60 during the day.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, slipped 0.14 % to 92.91.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, fell 0.13 % to USD 71.22 per barrel.

Foreign institutional investors were net sellers in the capital market on Thursday as they offloaded shares worth ₹ 212.11 crore, as per exchange data.