Rupee edges slightly higher at 74.88 against US dollar

The Indian rupee on Monday ended broadly steady at 74.88 against the US dollar, edging up by a mere 2 paise as forex market saw muted trading activities in the absence of fresh triggers.

At the interbank forex market, the domestic unit opened at 74.86 against the greenback and hit an intra-day high of 74.78 and low of 74.90.

It finally closed at 74.88, up 2 paise against the US dollar.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading at 93.08, lower by 0.01 per cent.

On the domestic equity market front, the BSE benchmark Sensex settled 173.44 points or 0.46 per cent higher at 38,050.78; and the NSE Nifty ended 68.70 points or 0.61 per cent up at 11,247.10.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, rose 0.42 per cent to USD 44.99 per barrel.

“There is not much news flow in the market and rupee is seen consolidating in a range only, where the impact of portfolio flows and a slight weakness in the dollar index has been capped by the RBI,” said Sugandha Sachdeva, VP – Metals, Energy & Currency Research, Religare Broking.

Sachdeva further said that market would be keenly eyeing the minutes of the US Federal Reserve’s latest meeting for further cues and that should dictate the trajectory for the domestic currency.

Analysts, meanwhile, said concerns over rising coronavirus cases around the globe will continue to weigh on investor sentiment.

India’s total COVID-19 cases neared 26.5 lakh and the death toll from the infection climbed past 50,000-mark, official data showed.

Globally, the number of cases surpassed 2.16 crore and deaths topped 7.74 lakh.