Rupee rises by 11 paise to 76.22 against US dollar

The rupee rose further by 11 paise to 76.22 against the US dollar on Friday, tracking the weakness in the American currency in the overseas market.

At the interbank forex market, the local unit opened at 76.15 against the greenback and witnessed an intra-day high of 76.12 and a low of 76.29.

The rupee quoted at 76.22 at 1530 hrs, registering a rise of 11 paise over its previous close. In the previous session, the rupee had appreciated 6 paise to settle at 76.33 against the US dollar.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which measures the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, fell 0.16 per cent to 98.62.

The rupee rebounded amid dollar softness and lower crude oil prices but trimmed the early gains following weaker domestic equities and foreign fund outflows, said Dilip Parmar, Research Analyst, HDFC Securities.

Ahead of the financial year-end, the rupee tends to show a high swing on the back of rebalancing-related inflows and outflows, Parmar added.

''The balance of risks for USDINR remains skewed to the upside following geopolitical worries and broad based selling by foreign institutions. Spot USDINR is expected to settle in the range of 76 to 76.50 this month, medium term direction remains bullish as long as it holds 75.70,'' Parmar noted.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, declined 1.27 per cent to USD 117.52 per barrel.

On the domestic equity market front, the BSE Sensex ended 233.48 points or 0.41 per cent lower at 57,362.20, while the broader NSE Nifty slumped 69.75 points or 0.4 per cent to 17,153.00.

Foreign institutional investors remained net sellers in the capital market on Thursday as they sold shares worth Rs 1,740.71 crore, according to stock exchange data.