Rupee falls 17 paise to 95.59 against US dollar in early trade

MUMBAI: The rupee depreciated 17 paise to 95.59 against the US dollar in early trade on Monday, as the overall risk-reward appears tilted towards weakness.

Forex traders said investors’ sentiment turned cautious after the Reserve Bank of India on August 14 said that its swap facility for FCNR (B) deposits will be available only for deposits mobilised till August 31. Earlier, the cut-off date for Foreign Currency Non-Resident (Bank) or FCNR (B) deposits was September 30.

Under the FCNR (B) scheme, banks offer attractive interest rates to mobilise foreign currency deposits.

The Reserve Bank on Friday said its concessional swap facility, introduced to encourage foreign currency inflows, has attracted USD 56.84 billion till August 13.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 95.50, then fell to 95.59, down 17 paise from its previous close.

On Friday, the rupee appreciated 3 paise to close at 95.42 against the US dollar.

"After attracting nearly USD 50 billion of forex inflows, the central bank has now announced that the facility will be available only for deposits mobilized until August 31, 2026. The support from these inflows remains significant, but the market will eventually begin looking beyond this temporary cushion," CR Forex Advisors MD- Amit Pabari said.

While the rupee may remain supported in the near term, the overall risk-reward appears tilted towards weakness, Pabari said.

"Technically, the 95.20–95.30 zone is likely to act as an important support area. As long as this level holds, USD/INR could gradually move towards the 96.20–96.50 region in the coming days," he said.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading at 99.54, down 0.12 per cent.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading higher by 0.47 per cent at USD 88.94 per barrel in futures trade.

On the domestic equity market front, Sensex declined 284.85 points to 77,717.05 in early trade, while the Nifty dipped 69.25 points to 24,297.05.

Foreign institutional investors purchased equities worth Rs 508.12 crore on a net basis on Friday, according to exchange data.

India's forex reserves jumped USD 14.136 billion to USD 707.002 billion during the week ended August 7, the Reserve Bank said on Friday. The overall kitty had jumped by USD 10.512 billion to USD 692.866 billion in the previous reporting week ended July 31.