The rupee spurted by 41 paise to close at 75.80 (provisional) against the US dollar on Thursday, supported by positive domestic equities and broad dollar weakness. At the interbank forex market, the local unit opened at 75.96 against the greenback and witnessed an intra-day high of 75.77 and a low of 75.97. The rupee settled at 75.80, registering a rise of 41 paise over its previous close of 76.21.

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Meanwhile, the dollar index, which measures the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, fell 0.39 percent to 98.23.

On a weekly basis, the rupee appreciated 63 paise against the American currency. The rupee registered the best weekly gain after December 24, amid weakness in the dollar index, rebound in risk-sentiments, stable crude oil price and inflows from foreign funds, said Dilip Parmar, Research Analyst, HDFC Securities.

The dollar index retreated after the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) delivered a 25 bps hike on Wednesday and signalled six more rate hikes this year. "It has effectively matched the hawkish expectations of the market this year and exceeded them for 2023. The near-term focus will remain on geopolitical news and movement of risk assets which will give direction to the local unit.

"Spot USD/INR could further fall towards 75.60 while 76.10 becomes the resistance," Parmar added.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, advanced 5.02 percent to USD 102.94 per barrel.

On the domestic equity market front, the BSE Sensex ended 1,047.28 points or 1.84 percent higher at 57,863.93, while the broader NSE Nifty surged 311.70 points or 1.84 percent to 17,287.05. Foreign institutional investors emerged as net buyers in the capital market on Wednesday as they purchased shares worth Rs 311.99 crore, as per stock exchange data.

First Published:Mar 17, 2022 5:01 PM IST