Dollar coming off its near one-month high overnight is likely to lend some support to the Indian rupee in early trades on Wednesday, 03 March 2021. On Tuesday, rupee rose by 18 paise to close at 73.37 against the US dollar, ending its three-day losing streak on the back of gains in domestic equities amid improving risk appetite.
At the interbank forex market, the local unit opened at 73.32 against the greenback and witnessed an intra-day high of 73.31 and a low of 73.48. It finally ended at 73.37 against the American currency, registering a rise of 18 paise over its previous closing. On Monday, the rupee had settled at 73.55 against the American currency. The rupee had lost 1.66 per cent in three sessions to Monday.
Domestic equity indices advanced for the second session and closed near the day's high with strong gains on Tuesday. The Sensex settled above the 50,000 mark while the Nifty managed to close above the 14,900 mark amid strong buying in the last hour of the trading session. The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, climbed 447.05 points or 0.90% at 50,296.89. The Nifty 50 index surged 157.55 points or 1.07% at 14,919.10. Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth Rs 2,223.16 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs), were net sellers to the tune of Rs 854.04 crore in the Indian equity market on 2 March, provisional data showed.
Overseas, Asian stocks are trading mixed on Wednesday, as a private survey showed slowing services sector activity in China last month. U.S. stocks fell on Tuesday led by technology names, as the market gave back some of the strong gains from the previous session. In coronavirus developments, U.S. President Joe Biden said Tuesday the country will have a large enough supply of coronavirus vaccines to inoculate every adult in the nation by the end of May — two months earlier than previously expected.
Meanwhile, an index of the dollar against six of its major peers was little changed early in the Asian session Wednesday, after dropping back from a nearly one-month high overnight. The safe-haven U.S. dollar remained broadly weaker on Wednesday as Treasury yields continued to retreat, restoring some calm to global markets and reigniting demand for riskier assets.
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