Rupee Trades in Narrow Range Against USD Amid Firm Crude Oil Prices

The Indian Rupee traded in a narrow range on Wednesday, falling 3 paise to 95.97 against the US dollar in early trade.

This decline was attributed to persistent demand for dollars from state-run oil marketing companies and firm crude oil prices.

Dollar sales by state-run banks on behalf of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) were also restricting the USD/INR pair under 96.00 level, according to Anindya Banerjee, Head of Commodity and Currency Research at Kotak Securities.

The RBI has been intervening in the market, with state-run bank dollar sales and a $14.9 billion fall in reserves to $766 billion in the latest week consistent with sizeable intervention.