Rupee snaps 2-day winning streak, ends 6 paise down at 73.91 against dollar
Jammu, May 5: The rupee snapped its two-day winning streak and closed 6 paise lower at 73.91 (provisional) against the US dollar on Wednesday.
At the interbank foreign exchange market, the domestic unit opened higher at 73.80, but failed to maintain the gains and fell to 74.04 before ending at 73.91, a loss of 6 paise over its previous close.
On Tuesday, the rupee had settled at 73.85 against the American currency. The domestic currency had gained 24 paise in the previous two days.
It hovered in a range of 73.80 and 74.04 per dollar during the day.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, rose by 0.02 per cent to 91.30.
Governor Shaktikanta Das said RBI will continue to monitor situation from the resurgence of COVID-19 cases and will deploy all resources. "We have to marshal our resources for fighting the virus with vigour," he said.
The Governor also announced Rs 50,000 crore priority lending by banks for hospitals and oxygen suppliers, among others by March 31, 2022.
A record 3,780 fresh COVID-19 fatalities were registered in a single day in India taking the death toll to 2,26,188, while 3,82,315 new coronavirus infections were recorded, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Wednesday.
The rally in domestic equities restricted the fall in the rupee, a forex dealer said.
On the domestic equity market front, the BSE Sensex settled 424.04 points or 0.88 per cent higher at 48,677.55, while the NSE Nifty closed 121.35 points or 0.84 per cent higher at 14,617.85.
Foreign institutional investors were net sellers in the capital market on Tuesday as they sold shares worth Rs 1,772.37 crore, as per exchange data.
Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, rose 1.36 per cent to USD 69.82 per barrel.