The Indian rupee began the week on a negative note, as it lost 4 paise to trade at 90.24 against the dollar in the morning session of Monday, the main reason being the geopolitical crisis after the U.S. military operation in Venezuela.
According to the forex traders, the rupee will be under constant pressure mostly because of geopolitical risk factors, but it will be supported to some extent by falling crude oil prices. In the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened at 90.21 per dollar and gradually went down to 90.24 at the beginning of trading.
Last Friday, the Indian rupee lost 22 paise in its value compared to the dollar and was at 90.20. In the meantime, the dollar index, which shows the U.S. dollar’s strength against a basket of six major currencies, went up by 0.36% to stand at 98.50.
On Saturday, the U.S. carried out a military operation in Venezuela which led to the removal of President Nicolas Maduro.. President Donald Trump stated that the U.S. would oversee the South American nation and its oil reserves for global supply. Despite these developments, Brent crude futures were slightly lower at $60.70 per barrel, down 0.07%.
On the domestic equity front, benchmark indices also dipped. During the early trading, there was a decrease in BSE Sensex by 135.81 points, so it reached 85,626.20, and NSE Nifty also lost 25.75 points to close at 26,302.80. The foreign institutional investors’ activity was still in the net buying direction, as they bought Indian stocks worth ₹289.80 crore on the last day of the week.
RBI data released on Friday showed India’s forex reserves rose by $3.293 billion to $696.61 billion for the week ending December 26, following a $4.368 billion gain in the prior week, indicating a strong buffer for the country despite currency fluctuations.
