Rupee rises 17 paise to 87.05 against dollar

Mumbai: The rupee surged 17 paise to settle at 87.05 against the US dollar on Thursday following robust macroeconomic data and easing crude oil prices.

Besides, recent weakness in the US dollar index also supported the local currency, forex dealers said.

However, losses in domestic equities and unabated foreign capital outflows capped the sharp gain, they added.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 87.13 and hit the intraday high of 86.94 against the greenback.

The unit touched the day’s low of 87.15 before ending the session at 87.05, up 17 paise against the previous closing level.

In the previous session on Wednesday, the rupee settled 1 paisa lower at 87.22 against the US dollar.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading higher by 0.12 per cent at 103.70.

Foreign institutional investors offloaded equities worth Rs 1,627.61 crore on a net basis on Wednesday, according to exchange data.

On the global front, President Donald Trump has challenged US allies by increasing tariffs on all steel and aluminium imports to 25 per cent as he vowed to take back wealth “stolen” by other countries.