Rupee surges 29 paise to 74.84 against US dollar in early trade

Mumbai: The rupee recovered 29 paise to 74.84 against the US dollar in opening trade Wednesday, as positive domestic equities and a weak American currency in the overseas markets boosted investor sentiments.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 74.96, and surged higher to 74.84 against the American dollar, registering a rise of 29 paise in the early deals.

The rupee continued its losing run for the fourth day Tuesday, dropping by 6 paise to 75.13 against the US dollar, as investor concerns grew over the fresh impact of the new COVID variant on the economy.

The rupee has been under pressure over the last few trading sessions, as the detection of a new coronavirus variant re-ignited growth concerns and hurt risk appetite.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, slipped 0.06 per cent to 95.93.

On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share Sensex was trading 376.76 points or 0.66 per cent higher at 57,441.63, while the broader NSE Nifty jumped 111.65 points or 0.66 per cent to 17,094.85.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude futures declined 3.91 per cent to USD 70.57 per barrel.

Foreign institutional investors were net sellers in the capital market Tuesday, as they offloaded shares worth Rs 5,445.25 crore, according to exchange data.

On the macro-economic front, the Indian economy remained on track to post the fastest growth among major economies this year, as its GDP expanded by a better-than-expected 8.4 per cent in the July-September quarter to cross pre-pandemic levels.

Meanwhile, the Union government’s fiscal deficit was 36.3 per cent of the budget estimates at the end of October 2021, on the back of improvement in revenue collection, according to the data released by the Controller General of Accounts (CGA)  Tuesday.