The rupee settled at 72.3050 against 72.67 at the previous close. The local unit moved in 72.00-72.41 per dollar band intra-day.
The Indian rupee gained for a second session to a near-two-month high against the dollar, tracking an overnight plunge in crude oil prices that soothed worries over widening of current account deficit. There are host of factors supporting the rupee, including a sharp decline in crude oil prices, which has eased worries over India’s current account deficit and reversal in dollar index from 16-month high. Dollar inflows in local equities have also helped.
Global Currency
The dollar dipped against a currency basket on Wednesday, while the pound slipped back below the 1.30 level ahead of a key UK cabinet meeting to debate the draft agreement on Brexit hammered out after more than a year of talks. Major currencies traded in tight ranges, with the dollar edging lower from a 16-month high.
The euro hovered below $1.13 on Wednesday as Italy re-submitted its draft budget for next year to the European Commission and traders prepared for economic growth numbers due out later. The single currency was flat at $1.1287 EUR after trading above $1.13 late Tuesday. The euro hit 16-month low of 1.1216 earlier this week.
Global Markets
Oil rose towards $67 a barrel on Wednesday, recouping some of the previous session's slide, on the growing prospect of OPEC and allied producers cutting output at a meeting next month to prop up the market.
Gold prices held steady on Wednesday as the U.S. dollar retraced from a 16-month high touched earlier in the week, easing amid a surge in the euro and sterling on a draft Brexit agreement.
