Rupee slips 20 paise against USD in early trade ahead of Budget
The rupee opened weak at 68.55 at the interbank forex market and then fell further to 68.70, down 20 paise over its last close.
The rupee opened on a weak note and declined by 20 paise to 68.70 against the US dollar in opening trade on Friday, ahead of the presentation of the Union Budget.
Forex traders said rupee slipped marginally against the US dollar as market participants awaited cues from the Union Budget to be presented in the Parliament Friday.
The rupee opened weak at 68.55 at the interbank forex market and then fell further to 68.70, down 20 paise over its last close.
The rupee had settled at 68.50 against the US dollar on Thursday.
Meanwhile, the weakening of the American currency in the overseas market, easing crude oil prices, and positive opening in domestic equities supported the local unit.
Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, fell 0.03 percent to $63.28 per barrel.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the capital markets, pulling out Rs 28.95 crore on Thursday, as per provisional data.
Domestic bourses opened on a positive note on Friday with benchmark indices Sensex trading 71.30 points higher at 39,979.36 and Nifty up 19.50 points at 11,966.25.
Meanwhile, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the 89th Union Budget today (July 5), the first full-time woman Finance Minister to do so.
This will also be the full Budget of the second term of PM Narendra Modi’s government, after former Finance Minister Arun Jaitley presented the Interim Budget in his last term in February this year.
The Economic Survey has lined up an ambitious plan to turn the country into a $5 trillion economy by 2024-25.
It has also projected that the GDP growth in FY20 will be seven percent while the economy will have to record eight percent growth every year to reach the trillion dollar target.
According to a Finance Ministry report, the Indian economy appears to have slowed down in 2018-19 due to lower private consumption and tepid growth in fixed investment and muted exports.