INR vs USD: Fresh demand for the American currency from importers amid rise in crude prices weighed on the domestic unit, traders said.

Halting its four-day winning streak, the rupee slipped by 9 paise to 72.02 against the US dollar in early trade on Monday ahead of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) board meeting outcome, reported news agency Press Trust of India (PTI). Fresh demand for the American currency from importers amid rise in crude prices weighed on the domestic unit, traders were quoted as saying in the PTI report. On Friday, the rupee strengthened by 4 paise to close at a fresh two-month high of 71.93 against the dollar.

Here are 10 things to know about rupee’s rate on Monday:

1. High crude prices led to the fall in the local currency on Monday. Oil prices rose around 1 per cent on Monday as traders expected top exporter Saudi Arabia to push producer club Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to cut supply towards year-end. The international benchmark, Brent crude was trading higher by 0.72 per cent to $67.40 per barrel.

2. However, weakness in the US dollar against some currencies in global market limited the rupee fall, according to the PTI report.

3. A higher opening of the domestic equity markets also restricted the drop in the local currency. At 10:55 am, BSE benchmark index Sensex traded at 35,548.74, up 91.58 points or 0.26 per cent and the NSE index Nifty50 was at 10,700.40, with a gain of 18.20 points or 0.17 per cent.

4. The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, inched about 0.1 per cent higher on Monday. It had declined about 0.5 per cent in the previous trading session.

5. In RBI’s board meeting, Finance Ministry nominees and some independent directors are expected to take on Governor Urjit Patel and his team over issues ranging from micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) credit to the central bank’s reserves. Both sides are in favour of reaching a common ground, reported news agency Reuters.

6. Meanwhile, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth Rs. 844.82 crore on Friday, as per provisional data.

7. Trade deficit in October widened to $17.13 billion due to a higher oil import bill, the country’s trade ministry said in a statement last week.

8. Retail inflation in October fell to a 13-month low of 3.31 per cent, government data showed earlier.

9. The rupee has declined about 11 per cent since the start of the year, making it the worst performer in Asia, stung by high oil prices and large foreign dollar outflows, according to reports.

10. The rupee lost 2.1 per cent in September, compared with a drop of 3.6 per cent in August, the worst since August 2015. In October, the rupee weakened by about 2 per cent, while so far in November the pace of fall further slowed to 0.4 per cent, news agency Reuters reported citing Refinitiv data. (With inputs from agencies)

Courtesy By :- NDTV