The Indian rupee ended flat yesterday, continuing a pattern of holding in tight ranges, with trading dominated by dollar sales from foreign banks but offset by solid greenback demand from oil companies and other importers.
IANS/Mumbai
A benchmark index of Indian equities markets ended yesterday’s trade 73.61 points or 0.29% up as fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) stocks surged.
Healthy buying was also observed in oil and gas and consumer durables sectors, while selling pressure was seen in capital goods, metal and information technology (IT) sector.
The 30-scrip Sensitive Index (Sensex) of the S&P Mumbai Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 25,776.54 points, closed at 25,715.17 points, up 73.61 points or 0.29% from the previous day’s close at 25,641.56 points.
The Sensex touched a high of 25,861.15 points and a low of 25,677.71 points in the trade so far.
The S&P BSE FMCG index gained 72.33 points, oil and gas index moved up by 64.16 points and consumer durables index inched up by 28.06 points.
However, capital goods index was down 124.51 points, metal index dipped 31.69 points and IT index was lower by 26.37 points.
The wider 50-scrip Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) was also trading 20.30 points or 0.26% up at 7,684.20 points.
The major Sensex gainers were: HDFC, up 3.06% at Rs1,011.05; Reliance Industries (RIL), up 2.11% at Rs997.35; ITC, up 1.42% at Rs349.05; Axis Bank, up 1.36% at Rs2,023.15; and Tata Consultancy Service (TCS), up 0.89% at Rs2,464.30.
The losers were: Tata Power, down 1.75% at Rs103.90; State Bank of India (SBI), down 1.50% at Rs2,523.15; Gail India, down 1.50% at Rs438.60; Infosys, down 1.44% at Rs3,206.45; and BHEL, down 1.22% at Rs235.05.
Meanwhile, the rupee ended flat, continuing a pattern of holding in tight ranges, with trading dominated by dollar sales from foreign banks but offset by solid greenback demand from oil companies and other importers.
Higher shares also continued to underpin sentiment, with indexes gaining for a fifth consecutive session amid continued buying by foreign investors.
Overseas funds were net buyers for a third consecutive session on Friday with purchases of $97.56mn despite concerns about escalating tensions between Russia and the West.
“There is a strong foothold for the rupee at 60 levels. There are no domestic triggers which can push the rupee sharply higher or lower from here. Market is now keen to see how the government delivers on its budget estimates,” said Naveen Mathur, associate director, commodities and currencies at Angel Broking.
The partially convertible rupee closed at 60.30/31 per dollar compared with 60.28/29 on Friday. The unit moved in a tight range of 60.1650 to 60.32 range during the session.
Traders said gains in other Asian currencies versus the dollar also aided sentiment for the rupee.
Most Asian currencies rose yesterday, with the Thai baht touching a seven-month high, as investor risk aversion showed signs of easing, although market players remained cautious about geopolitical risks.
In the offshore non-deliverable forwards PNDF, the one-month contract was at 60.60 while the three-month was at 61.13.