USD/INR closed at 69.34 against opening at 69.10. Dollar/rupee closed higher Thursday on buying by oil importers for their month-end payments amid a strong greenback. Dollar is strong on concerns of global economic slowdown and strong US trade data. Also, month-end dollar demand pushed spot up.
The greenback further strengthened against its major peers as investors cheered a strong US trade balance data amid continued signs of a weakening economy in Europe fuelling concerns of global economic slowdown.
The dollar index, which tracks the movement of the greenback against a basket of six major currencies traded at 96.87 Thursday compared to 96.72 at close of Indian market on Wednesday.
US trade deficit shrank to $51.1 billion in January, the sharpest decline since March 2018, data released Wednesday by the US Department of Commerce showed.
Exports rose to $207.3 billion, a $1.9 billion increase from December, while imports dropped to $258.5 billion, down $6.8 billion from the previous month, the data showed. The December deficit figure was revised to $59.9 billion.
Meanwhile, European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said in a conference in Frankfurt, Germany, that the European Central Bank is willing to further delay a planned interest rate hike if necessary and may look at measures to mitigate any side effects of negative interest rates.
Crude oil traded lower after a US government report revealed a weekly increase in domestic crude supplies, defying market expectations for a third straight weekly decline.
On Wednesday, the Energy Information Administration reported that US crude supplies unexpectedly rose by 2.8 million barrels for the week ended Mar 22. Brent futures for May delivery traded 0.22% lower at $67.68 per barrel.
Sensex provisionally ends 434 points higher with 24 components in the green.