The Indian rupee opened stronger on Tuesday, tracking gains in the domestic equity market. Around 12.15 PM, the rupee was trading at 71.12 a dollar against the previous close of 71.36 a dollar. “The global concern that fast-spreading coronavirus may hamper global growth led to a gap-up open in USD/INR spot. Also, this week we have RBI policy, we expect the central bank to stand pat at 5.15% with an accommodative stance, the commentary on inflation and growth forecast would be keenly watched. In the short term, coronavirus fears will keep the rupee on an edge and we can expect USD/INR spot to remain within 71.30-71.75,” Rahul Gupta, Head of Research-Currency, Emkay Global Financial Services said.
Rupee opened higher by 13 paise at 71.24 per dollar versus previous close 71.36. After the Union Budget presentation, now all eyes would be on RBI’s monetary policy committee meeting which begins February 4, 2020. The RBI’s monetary policy announcement, which would be first one in 2020, is slated on February 6. On Monday, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) were sellers of domestic stocks to the tune of Rs 1,200 crore, while the domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net buyers to the tune of Rs 1,286.62 crore, as per the NSE data.
On MCX, gold April futures were trading Rs 187 or 0.46 per cent lower at Rs 40,557 per 10 grams, while silver March futures were ruling flat, up just Rs 35 to trade at Rs 45925 per Kg on Tuesday. Gold prices fell sharply as Indian rupee gained against US dollar in the opening session.
The domestic equity market benchmark Sensex and Nifty were trading around 2 per cent higher in the noon deals. S&P BSE Sensex was trading 794 points or 2 per cent higher at 40,666 points, while the NSE’s Nifty 50 was ruling at 11,945 points, up 237 points or 2.03 per cent.