Rupee rises 4 paise to close at ₹88.72 against US dollar

The rupee rebounded from its all-time low to close 4 paise higher at ₹88.72 (provisional) against the US dollar on Friday, tracking a weak greenback against major currencies overseas and a drop in global crude oil prices.

Unabated foreign capital outflows and risk-off sentiment in the domestic equity market prevented a sharp rise in the local unit, while hopes of a breakthrough in the India-US trade talks supported the domestic currency, according to forex traders.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at ₹88.72 and traded in a narrow range of ₹88.67-₹88.73 before settling at ₹88.72 (provisional), 4 paise higher than its previous close.

The rupee had slipped 1 paisa to close at a fresh lifetime low of ₹88.76 against the American currency on Thursday.

The rupee is expected to remain in the range of ₹88.50-₹89.00 on Monday.

Meanwhile, India and the US have decided to continue their engagements to achieve an early conclusion of a mutually beneficial trade pact, according to the Commerce Ministry.

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal led a delegation of officials to the US for the three-day trade talks earlier this week.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.19% lower at 98.37. Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading 0.39% higher at USD 69.15 per barrel in futures trade.

On the domestic equity market front, SENSEX tanked 733.22 points to settle at 80,426.46, while Nifty was down 236.15 points to 24,654.70.

Foreign Institutional Investors offloaded equities worth ₹4,995.42 crore on Thursday, according to exchange data.