Rupee decreases 7 paise to end the day at 79.93 versus the US dollar

The rupee lost 7 paise to end the day at 79.93 (provisional) after trading in a constrained range on Thursday versus the US dollar. The native currency's opening rate on the interbank foreign exchange market was 79.80 per dollar. It lingered between 79.80 and 79.93 during the session.

After settling at 79.93, the domestic currency fell 7 paise from its previous closing of 79.86. "Among Asian currencies, the Indian rupee underperformed and remained in a small range. China's economic stimulus helped regional rivals while the local currency was under pressure due to rising crude oil prices and risk-off sentiment on the domestic stock exchanges "Dilip Parmar, a research analyst at HDFC Securities, said.

Prior to tomorrow's monthly rebalancing, Spot USD/INR is predicted to trade in the region of 79.60 to 80.10, according to Parmar. The dollar index, which gauges the strength of the dollar relative to a basket of six different currencies, was down 0.50 percent at 108.13.

The international oil benchmark, Brent crude futures, increased 0.39 percent to USD 101.61 per barrel. Prior to the Federal Reserve chairman's speech at the Jackson Hole conference, forex dealers reported that market players remained cautious.

In terms of local equities, the broad NSE Nifty fell 82.50 points or 0.47 percent to 17,522.45, while the BSE Sensex closed 310.71 points or 0.53 percent lower at 58,774.72. According to preliminary data, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) continued to be net buyers on the capital markets on Wednesday, buying shares worth Rs 23.19 crore.