Rupee falls 5 paise to close at 82.57 against U.S. dollar

During the day, the rupee touched a high of 82.53 and a low of 82.61

The rupee fell 5 paise to close at 82.57 (provisional) against the U.S. dollar on Thursday, after the Reserve Bank kept the key interest rate unchanged.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic unit opened at 82.59 against the dollar, and finally settled at 82.57 (provisional), down 5 paise from its previous close amid a negative trend in domestic equities.

During the day, the rupee touched a high of 82.53 and a low of 82.61 against the greenback as a weak dollar and softening of crude oil prices cushioned the downside.

On Wednesday, the rupee had settled at 82.52 against the dollar.

The Reserve Bank of India on Thursday opted for a pause second time in a row, maintaining key benchmark policy rate at 6.5% citing moderate inflation.

The central bank kept its GDP growth projections for the current fiscal (April 2023 to March 2024) unchanged at 6.5% while marginally lowering the retail inflation expectation to 5.1% from the previous 5.2%.

On rupee, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said the domestic unit has remained stable since January this year.