Rupee falls 13 paise to 95.56 against US dollar in early trade

MUMBAI: The rupee fell 13 paise to trade at 95.56 per US dollar on Monday morning pressured by rising crude oil prices and geopolitical strain.

Forex traders said market participants have raised the probability of a September Fed rate hike, pushing US Treasury yields higher and triggering a broad dollar rally, denting investor sentiments further.

At the interbank foreign exchange market the rupee opened at 95.56, registering a fall of 13 paise from its previous close.

On Friday, the rupee rose marginally by 2 paise to settle at 95.43 against the US dollar.

The rupee opened lower as the dollar index was at 99.62 level, while most other assets fell from their levels on Friday, said Anil Kumar Bhansali, Head of Treasury and Executive Director Finrex Treasury Advisors LLP.

The rupee is expected to be in the range of 95.25 to 95.75 with exporters to sell near 95.60 levels and importers to buy all dips that they get with no directional movement being seen in the currencies, Bhansali added.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading at 99.62, lower marginally by 0.07 per cent.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading higher by 1.34 per cent at USD 89.28 per barrel in futures trade, driven by a renewed Middle East supply-risk premium after the US strike on Iran's Larak Island and subsequent Iranian retaliation, raising fresh concerns about oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz.

Forex traders said RBI is intervening in the market to stem any significant depreciation in the rupee. Moreover, better-than-expected flows under the FCNR(B) scheme also boosted investor sentiments.

On the domestic equities market front, Sensex declined 226.60 points to 77,028.56, while the Nifty fell 120.40 points to 24,053.55.

Foreign institutional investors offloaded equities worth Rs 5,039.80 crore on a net basis on Friday, according to exchange data.

India's forex reserves jumped USD 12.422 billion to a new all-time high of USD 729.328 billion during the week ended August 21, the RBI said on Friday.

Meanwhile, the Commerce Ministry will meet with industry associations and representatives of export promotion councils on September 1 on India-US trade performance.

The meeting will be chaired by Additional Secretary in the ministry Darpan Jain. He is also the country's chief negotiator for the India-US bilateral trade agreement.