Rupee slips 17 paise against US dollar in early trade

The rupee opened 17 paise lower at 70.17 against the US dollar on Friday amid weak global cues after the European Central Bank (ECB) slashed its growth forecasts and launched an emergency round of policy stimulus.

The domestic unit ended 28 paise higher at 70 on Thursday amid robust foreign inflows and strong buying in domestic equities. It was the third straight session of gain for the domestic currency, during which it has strengthened by 92 paise.

The dollar-rupee March contract on the NSE was at 70.15 in the previous session. March contract open interest (OI) declined 4 per cent in the previous session. "We expect the US$/INR to find supports at lower levels. Utilise downsides in the pair to initiate long positions," ICICI Securities said in its daily currency report.

On Thursday, foreign investors (FIIs and FPIs) infused a total of Rs 1,137.85 crore in the Indian equity market while domestic investors (DIIs) were the net sellers to the tune of Rs 925.46 crore, NSE data showed.

On the global front, Asian stocks fell on Friday. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan dipped 0.3 per cent while Japan’s Nikkei dropped 0.9 per cent. E-Mini futures for the S&P 500 dithered either side of flat after a weak close for Wall Street, Reuters reported.

The US dollar reached a new 2019 high against a basket of currencies and was last at 97.607.

National Stock Exchange of India Ltd (NSE)