NEW DELHI, Aug 18: The Indian rupee appreciated 20 paise against the US dollar on Monday, supported by strong domestic equities.
The rupee traded on the positive territory on the GST reforms recommended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his August 15 address.
The uncertainty over trade tariffs issue between India and the US is likely to keep market participants cautious. The proposed two-slab regime, if approved by the GST Council, will replace the current four slabs in the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime, doing away with the 12 per cent and 28 per cent slabs.
The RBI has been actively selling dollars as the reserves fell about USD 10 billion in the previous week. The market is also expecting that the additional 25% levy may go away once a peace deal is agreed upon between Ukraine and Russia. The S&P upgrade to India’s ratings has provided the necessary support to the rupee, as the ratings have been upgraded to BBB from BBB-. Brent crude prices rose 0.70% to USD 66.31 per barrel in futures trade.
Investors will monitor Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s comments at Jackson Hole this week for clues on the path of interest rate cuts in its next meeting in September. The dollar index rose 0.14 percent to 97.98. (PTI)
On the domestic equity market, the Sensex jumped 676.09 points to settle at 81,273.75, while the Nifty surged 245.65 points to 24,876.95. Foreign Institutional Investors purchased equities worth Rs 550.85 crore on Monday. (PTI)
