Rupee strengthens for sixth day, up 28 paise to 75.26 per USD

Rising for the sixth straight session, the rupee climbed 28 paise to close at 75.26 against the US dollar on Thursday as abating concerns over the Omicron variant improved risk appetite globally.

At the interbank forex market, the local unit opened at 75.43 against the greenback and witnessed an intra-day high of 75.22 and a low of 75.44.

On Wednesday, the rupee had appreciated by 5 paise to close at 75.54 against the US dollar.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which measures the greenback's strength against the basket of six currencies, rose 0.03 per cent to 96.10.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, fell 0.20 per cent to USD 75.14 per barrel.

Foreign institutional investors remained net sellers in the capital market on Wednesday, as they offloaded shares worth Rs 827.26 crore, as per stock exchange data.

On the domestic equity market front, the BSE Sensex ended 384.72 points or 0.68 per cent higher at 57,315.28, while the broader NSE Nifty advanced 117.15 points or 0.69 per cent to 17,072.60.

According to Sriram Iyer, Senior Research Analyst at Reliance Securities, the rupee appreciated against the US dollar on Thursday as risk appetite improved as concerns over the economic impact of the Omicron coronavirus variant eased.

"The local unit has gained 1.1 per cent so far this week and is poised for its best weekly performance since April 30," Iyer said.

Most regional and emerging market currencies appreciated against the dollar on Thursday and lent support.

"Interbank selling the USD/INR pair, RBI's presence in the market, absence of importers and aggressive hedging by exporters in anticipation of quarter-end dollar inflows lent support this week," Iyer noted.

Jateen Trivedi, Senior Research Analyst at LKP Securities, said, lower crude prices and upbeat capital markets have helped the rupee.

"Going ahead rupee can be seen between 75.10-75.55 range," he added.