USD/INR closed at 68.87 against its opening at 68.99.. Dollar/rupee ends little changed as exporters selling offset month end dollar demand causes strong dollar. Crude oil prices further strengthened, pushed up by ongoing supply cuts by OPEC and the US sanctions on Iran and Venezuela. Brent crude oil futures for May delivery traded 0.25% up at $68.14 a barrel on Wednesday.
The dollar index, which tracks the movement of the greenback against a basket of six major currencies traded at 96.90 Wednesday compared to 96.52 at close of Indian market on Tuesday. The greenback strengthened against its major peers as concerns of global economic slowdown continue to weigh on market sentiments after release of weak US economic data.
Fresh economic data fuelled concerns of global growth slowdown as home prices in certain geographies grew at the slowest pace in six years. US consumer confidence also fell sharply in March according to the Conference Board's consumer confidence index, falling to 124.1 from 131.4 last month.The dismal outlook on global growth led to reduction in demand for risky assets as investors eyed fresh developments on the US-China trade front.
Sensex provisionally ends 134 points lower with 21 components in the red.