Rupee opens 4 paise up at 73.54 against dollar

The rupee on Friday opened 4 paise higher at 73.54 against the US dollar following some selling in American currency by banks and exporters amid sustained inflows by foreign institutional investors.

Earlier, the local currency gained in the first half of the session on Thursday following sharp gains in domestic equities and weakness in the dollar against its major crosses.

The Federal Reserve in its policy statement held rates unchanged and pledged to provide stimulus until economic recovery is complete.


In the last few sessions, market participants have been cautious ahead of the Federal Reserve and Bank of England policy statement that were released this week.

Both Fed and BoE have held rates unchanged and hinted towards further supporting the economy.

“For today, we expect the USDINR (Spot) to trade sideways and quote in the range of 73.40 and 74.05,” brokerage Motilal Oswal Financial Services said.

Pound retraced after the Bank of England in its policy statement decided to hold rates citing an “unusually uncertain” outlook for the UK economy because of the spread of coronavirus.

The MPC’s unanimous decision to leave monetary policy unchanged came after it judged that the economic developments since its last meeting in early November had not changed the outlook significantly.

Brexit uncertainty is also keeping market participants on the edge but any positive update could extend gains for the currency.