MUMBAI: The rupee on Tuesday breached the 63 level against the dollar in day trade but ended just 3 paise higher at 64.21 as foreign investors pulled out funds ahead of the US Federal Reserve's meeting on interest rate.
The domestic currency had opened strong at 64.12 and breached the 63 level briefly in early trade on heavy unwinding of dollar positions by exporters. It rose 63.99 per dollar level in early trade in line with gains in stock markets.
However, the rupee retreated sharply to trade in a narrow band for most of the day as stock markets surrendered gains.
The rupee settled at 64.21 per dollar, showing a modest gain of 3 paise, or 0.05 per cent. It had lost 13 paise in last two trading sessions.
Forex market trading was largely muted ahead of the US Federal Open Market Committee's monetary policy announcement as traders preferred to stay on the sidelines and avoided taking and long positions, a dealer said.
Foreign investors today pulled out Rs 611 crore from stock markets, provisional exchange data showed.
Domestic equities ended on a flat note as investors booked profits in key frontline heavyweights amid geopolitical developments and ongoing corporate earnings.
The BSE sensex gained 2.78 points to close at 29,921.18 after briefly recapturing the 30,000-mark in morning trade, while Nifty added 9.75 points to 9,313.80.
The RBI, meanwhile, fixed the reference rate for the dollar at 64.2072 and for the euro at 70.0436.
In worldwide trade, the greenback traded weak against all major trading rivals ahead of Fed's monetary policy meeting results even as macro data showed that US economic growth in the first quarter of the year slowed to the weakest pace since 2014.
In cross-currency trade, the Indian unit recovered against the pound sterling to finish at 82.92 from 83.13 per pound and bounced back against the euro close at 70.08 as compared to 70.23 earlier.
The local currency also recouped against the Japanese Yen to conclude at 57.23 per 100 yens from 57.69 last weekend.
In the forward market today, premium for dollar moved down further due to consistent receivings from exporters.
The benchmark six-month premium for October softened to 160-162 paise from 161.5-163.5 paise and the far-forward April 2018 also moved down to 320-322 paise from 322-324 paise on last Friday.
Crude prices traded substantially weak amid concerns that OPEC's production cut scheme will be insufficient to boost prices in a lasting way.
Source: Times Of India