Rupee surges 13 paise to 75.90 against USD amid RBI maintaining status quo

The rupee appreciated 13 paise to settle at 75.90 (provisional) against the US dollar on Friday, amid the Reserve Bank of India maintaining status quo on the benchmark lending rate.

Announcing the monetary policy, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said the Indian economy has large forex reserves and that it stands ready and resolute to defend the economy.

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At the interbank forex market, the domestic unit opened at 75.99 against the US dollar and touched an intra-day high of 75.70 and finally closed at 75.90, registering a rise of 13 paise over its previous close.

On Thursday, the rupee had declined 19 paise to close at 76.03.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.12 per cent up at 99.87.

This is the 11th time in a row that the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) headed by Das has maintained status quo and left the benchmark lending rate unchanged at 4 per cent.

RBI had last revised its policy repo rate or the short-term lending rate on May 22, 2020 in an off-policy cycle to perk up demand by cutting the interest rate to a historic low.

On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share BSE Sensex ended 412.23 points or 0.70 per cent higher at 59,447.18, and the broader NSE Nifty surged 144.80 points or 0.82 per cent to 17,784.35.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, rose 0.99 per cent to USD 101.58 per barrel.

Foreign institutional investors remained net sellers in the capital market on Thursday as they offloaded shares worth Rs 5,009.62 crore, according to stock exchange data.