USD/INR closed at 70.41 against its opening at 70.46. USD/INR ended down Thursday on selling by exporters amid a weak trading in greenback after Fed minutes showed policymakers been dovish on future rate hike.likely overseas fund inflows into local stocks further weighed on dollar demand.
After a sharp rally in the spot, exporters started selling after a crucial level of Rs 70.50. Dollar is weak after the Fed minutes release.Overseas investors remain invested into local stocks on optimism over India's investment opportunity after World Bank predicted that India's GDP will grow at 7.3% during FY19.
The greenback plunged sharply against major peers as Federal Reserve December monetary policy minutes showed policymakers were dovish in their view for future rate hike.After the release of Fed minutes, investors' expectation of a possible pause in Fed rate hike cycle turned stronger.
The dollar index, which tracks the movement of the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, traded at 95.28 during Asian trades Thursday compared to 95.91 at previous close.
Minutes from the Fed's Dec 18-19 monetary policy meeting revealed that several policymakers were in favour of the US central bank keeping rates steady in December policy.
The Fed minutes showed that policymakers think that if inflationary pressure is not evident then the central bank will be patient further over policy tightening. In the backdrop, Fed Chair Jerome Powell and FOMC member Raphael Bostic also signalled less urgency to lift interest rates soon.Risk sentiments boosted on hopes of progress in Sino-US trade talk.
Sensex and Nifty provisionally ends down 107 and 39 points with 18 and 30 components in the red respectively.