Against dollar, rupee falls 10 paise to 79.23

The rupee declined by 10 paise to close at 79.23 (provisional) against the US dollar on Friday, tracking the strength of the American currency in the overseas market.

At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local currency opened at 79.20 and finally ended at 79.23, down 10 paise over its previous close of 79.13.

"Gains for the currency were short-lived even after RBI announced forex related measures. Pound held on to its gains after Boris Johnson said he was quitting as prime minister following a rush of ministerial resignations and calls for him to go," said Gaurang Somaiya, Forex & Bullion Analyst, Motilal Oswal Financial Services.

Focus will be on the non-farm payrolls data and better-than-expected numbers could keep the dollar supported at lower levels, Somaiya said, adding, "We expect the USD-INR to trade sideways but with a positive bias and quote in the range of 79.05 and 79.80."

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The RBI on Wednesday raised overseas borrowing limits for companies and liberalised norms for foreign investments in government bonds as it announced a slew of measures to boost foreign exchange inflows in efforts to curb the fall of the rupee.

The central bank had also said it has been closely monitoring the liquidity conditions in the forex market and has stepped in as needed in all its segments to alleviate dollar tightness with the objective of ensuring orderly market functioning.

The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, rose 0.39 per cent to 107.54.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, rose 0.05 per cent to USD 104.70 per barrel.

On the domestic equity market front, the BSE Sensex ended 303.38 points or 0.56 per cent up at 54,481.84, while the broader NSE Nifty jumped 87.70 points or 0.54 per cent to 16,220.60.

Foreign institutional investors were net sellers in the capital market on Thursday as they offloaded shares worth Rs 925.22 crore, as per stock exchange data.