The rupee strengthened 2 paise to 91.62 against the US dollar on Friday after the United States announced a 30-day waiver to allow Indian refiners to buy Russian oil. The move comes amid the ongoing war in West Asia and is aimed at reducing pressure on global energy supplies.“This stop-gap measure will ease the pressure caused by Iran’s attempt to hold global energy hostage,” US Treasury Secretary Scott Besant said on Thursday.
According to PTI report, the rupee opened at its previous session’s closing level of 91.64 in the interbank foreign exchange market and rose slightly to 91.62 against the greenback.After falling by 97 paise in the last two sessions, the currency improved by 41 paise to close at 91.64 on Thursday.Forex traders noted that negative domestic equity markets and outflows of foreign funds limited the rupee’s gains despite a fall in the US dollar. The dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, was down 0.37 percent at 98.94.Global oil prices also declined, with Brent crude futures falling 1.05 per cent to $84.51 a barrel, supporting sentiment on a calm energy market.Markets remained under pressure on the domestic equity front. In early trade, the Sensex fell 388.23 points or 0.49 per cent to 79,627.67, while the Nifty fell 118.30 points or 0.48 per cent to 24,647.60. According to exchange data, foreign institutional investors sold equities worth Rs 3,752.52 crore on a net basis on Thursday.
