The Indian rupee on Monday lost 40 paise to end the day provisionally at 79.64 against the US dollar as investors' appetite for risk decreased. Forex dealers noted that the losses were somewhat restrained by lower global crude prices and a surge in domestic shares.
The local currency started out weak on the interbank foreign exchange market at 79.50 per dollar. Throughout the session, it fluctuated between a high of 79.45 and a low of 79.65.
The final price, which was down 40 paise from the previous close of 79.24, was 79.64.
The dollar index, which gauges the strength of the dollar relative to a basket of six different currencies, fell 0.25 percent to 106.57. The benchmark for world oil, Brent crude futures, saw a 0.54 percent decrease to USD 94.38 per barrel.
On the Indian share market front, the BSE Sensex closed 465.14 points, or 0.80 percent, higher at 58,853.07 on the domestic equities market, while the larger NSE Nifty gained 127.60 points, or 0.73 percent, to 17,525.10. According to exchange data, foreign institutional investors continued to be net purchasers on Friday, buying shares worth 1,605.81 crore.
Foreign investors continued to have a bullish outlook on Indian shares after becoming net buyers last month and invested more than 14,000 crore in the first week of August despite a weakening dollar index.
Data from depositories showed that this was significantly more than the net investment made by Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) in July, which was close to 5,000 crore.
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