Rupee ends steady at 64.45 against dollar

Mumbai: The rupee on Friday ended flat at 64.45 against the US currency in an otherwise quiet and range-bound trade amid weaker dollar sentiment overseas.

Sustained capital inflows into the Indian markets backed by strong macro environment largely supported the home currency to stay afloat of late.

The rupee resumed a tad higher at 64.44 as compared to Thursday's closing value of 64.45 at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (forex) market.

It was largely confined to a tight range for most part of the day with no directional strength and gradually touched an intra-day low of 64.48 before recouping losses to end unaltered at 64.45.

On the contrary for the week, the local unit recovered by 15 paise against the dollar, snapping a four-week downtrend.

The RBI, meanwhile, fixed the reference rate for the dollar at 64.4539 and for the euro at 73.5677.

Moreover, reports that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to hold a meet on Friday to review the FDI policy norms to step up investment inflows into the country also weighed on the forex trade sentiment.

The home currency showed signs of weakening in early trade due to stray dollar demand from importers and some corporates before ending rock steady.

Asian and emerging market currencies breathed a sigh of relief overnight after Fed Chair Janet Yellen indicated monetary policy tightening policy will be gradual.

The US dollar, however, went nowhere against its Asian rivals.

Meanwhile, Indian bourses endured modest profit-taking after an uninterrupted four-day spectacular bull-run amid a mixed bag of Q1 earnings and a revenue guidance from IT firms Infosys and TCS.

Both the flagship indices, Sensex and Nifty, conquered fresh highs in opening trade cheered by Infosys' better-than- expected June quarter results before succumbing to selling pressure.

The dollar index, which tracks the US currency against a basket of six major rivals, was down at 95.41.

In worldwide trade, the greenback traded little changed against a group of peers early on Friday, as currency investors remained cautious ahead of US inflation data due later in the session.

In cross-currency trades, the rupee dropped further against the pound sterling to finish at 83.62 from 83.28 per pound and fell back against the euro to settle at 73.57 from 73.46 earlier.

But, it rebounded against the Japanese yen to end at 56.96 per 100 yens from 56.99 yesterday.

In forward market today, premium for dollar showed steady to better trend in the absence of any market-moving factors.

The benchmark six-month premium payable in December was stable at 136-138 paise, while the far forward June 2018 contract advanced to 284-286 paise from 283-285 paise.

On the international commodity front, crude prices lost further ground on Friday, pulled down by high fuel inventories and improving industry efficiency.

Brent crude futures, the international benchmark for oil prices, were down 7 cents, or 0.1 per cent, at USD 48.35 per barrel in early Asian trade.