Rupee settles at 74.80 against dollar, touches 20.38 vs dirham

Dubai - The dollar index against six major currencies stood at 93.720, near its lowest since June 2018 this week.

The Indian rupee gained 4 paise to settle at 74.80 (provisional) against the US dollar to quote at Dh20.38 on Wednesday tracking weakness in the greenback.
At the interbank forex market, the rupee traded in a narrow range. It started the day at 74.83 and closed at 74.80, up 4 paise over its previous closing of 74.84 against the US dollar. During the session, the domestic unit touched an intra-day high of 74.73 and a low of 74.89 against the US dollar.
Devesh Mamtani, Chief Market Strategist, Century Financial, said: "INR is little up by 0.03per cent to 74.82 after depreciating by 0.03 per cent to 74.8450 in previous session against US Dollar amid mixed global market cues. Month end Dollar demand by gold importers and forex outflow supporting the pair."
The dollar index against six major currencies stood at 93.720, near its lowest since June 2018 this week. The euro traded at $1.1723, up slightly on the day though it has stepped back a tad from Monday's 22-month high of $1.17815.The dollar changed hands at 105.05 yen, near a 4-1/2-month low of 104.955 hit the previous session.
Rahul Gupta, Head of Research-Currency, Emkay Global Financial Services, said: "The USDINR spot is trading in a very narrow range of 74.75-75. Today's Fed policy will provide some clarity over the trend. We don't expect a rate action by Fed today. If the-policy turns out to be ultra easy then we can see some fall in dollar index and may get reflected in USDINR spot. However, in our view the policy will be reiteration of past measures. So, 74.50 will keep acting as a crucial support while 75 will act as an immediate resistance. Unless 75 breaks, we will see the spot trading in between 74.50-75."
- With inputs from agencies, sandhya@khaleejtimes.com