USD/INR Closed at 71.30 against its opening at 71.37. USD/INR extended losses during afternoon trade Friday on overseas inflows related to Vodafone-Idea deal.There is big dollar selling by Vodafone-Idea. Also exporters continue to sell along with foreign banks.
Adding to that, Brent crude oil prices slipped on rise in US crude inventories amid US-China trade tensions that concerns over global growth and demand.Brent futures for April delivery traded 0.63% down at $61.24 a barrel.
The Reserve Bank of India Monetary Policy Committee cut its repo rate to 6.25% and changed its policy stance to neutral from calibrated tightening.
The dollar index, which tracks the movement of the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, traded at 96.56 during early Asian trades Friday compared to 96.59 at previous close.The greenback surged against major peers after reports that US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are unlikely to meet before March 2, the deadline the countries set for reaching a trade deal.
Also, European Commission slashed its economic growth forecasts for the euro zone due to the expected impact of trade tensions and other challenges for the bloc's largest countries.On the US economic front, Initial Jobless Claims released data by US department of labour fell to 234000 in January compared to 253000 in December.
Sensex provisionally ends 470 points lower with 26 components in the red.