Sensex, Nifty turn choppy, rupee rises 11 paise to 73.84 against US dollar

The broader NSE Nifty too surged 55 points, or 0.49 per cent, to 10,441.60 in the opening session. In the Sensex kitty, L&T took the top position by surging 5.73 per cent on the back of better-than-expected quarterly earnings posted by the company Wednesday.

Easing concerns around the rift between the government and RBI, after the Finance Ministry said the autonomy for the central bank, within the framework of the RBI Act, was an “essential and accepted” governance requirement, lifted the market in early trade, traders said.

Other gainers that supported the key indices included Yes Bank, Tata Motors, ONGC, M&M, Axis Bank, Adani Ports, Tata Steel, Maruti Suzuki, HDFC Bank, PowerGrid, ITC Ltd, and Bajaj Auto, rising by up to 1.86 per cent. Stocks of automakers were in good demand ahead of October month’s sale data, to be released later in the day.

However, investors booked profits in index heavyweights, dragging the benchmarks in the negative zone. Top losers include Infosys, TCS, HDFC, HUL, ITC and Wipro, falling up to 2 per cent.

Meanwhile, DIIs bought shares worth a net of Rs 1,124.92 crore, while foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold share to the tune of Rs 193.65 crore Wednesday, as per provisional data.

Globally, in the Asian region, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng surged 1.63 per cent, Shanghai Composite Index up 1.23 per cent, while Taiwan rose 0.32 per cent. Korea gained 0.58 per cent. Japan’s Nikkei, however, was down 0.78 per cent.

The rupee rebounded 11 paise to 73.84 against the dollar

The US Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.97 per cent Wednesday on the back of strong corporate earnings.

The rupee rebounded 11 paise to 73.84 against the dollar in early trade Thursday on increased selling of the American currency by exporters. At the interbank foreign exchange, after opening higher at 73.88 rupee strengthened further to quote at 73.84 against the dollar registering a recovery of 11 paise over its previous close.

The dollar’s weakness against some currencies overseas and a better opening of domestic equities supported the rupee’s recovery, traders said. Easing concerns around the rift between the government and the RBI, after the Finance Ministry said the autonomy for the central bank, within the framework of the RBI Act, was an “essential and accepted” governance requirement, also lifted the the local unit, they added.

On Wednesday, the rupee had plunged 27 paise to close at nearly three-week low of 73.95 as the American currency strengthened against major global currencies overseas amid steady capital outflows. Meanwhile, the benchmark Sensex went up 149.36 points, or 0.44 per cent, to 34,591.41 in opening trade.