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Continuing its winning run for the third straight session, the rupee today firmed up by another 4 paise to close at 68.03 against the US currency amid modest dollar selling by banks and exporters.
The domestic currency largely shrugged off the early volatility and staged a smart rebound towards the fag—end trade despite greenback’s bullish overseas sentiment.
Strong momentum in the domestic equity markets and revival in foreign capital inflows also aided the rupee rise, a forex dealer said.
The dollar continued its rally for a second straight day largely outperforming almost all major world currencies driven by strong US fundamentals ahead of Q4 GDP growth data of the world’s largest economy and December durable goods data.
The Fed has made it clear that on—coming fiscal policy is a key determinant in shaping the rate hike outlook.
Meanwhile, the foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 1,378.81 crore on Wednesday.
The rupee opened substantially lower at 68.18 against Wednesday’s closing value of 68.07 at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market and weakened further to hit a low of 68.23 following robust month—end demand.
However, it staged a recovery towards the tail—end trade amid smooth dollar supply and managed to settle higher at 68.03, up 4 paise, or 0.04 per cent.
Stretching the gains for the third day, it has appreciated by 17 paise against the dollar.
On weekly basis, the rupee has gained 15 paise after its relentless downtrend for the sixth straight week —— the longest falling spell since November 2015.
The US dollar index was trading higher at 100.59 in late afternoon session.
The RBI fixed the reference rate for the dollar at 68.2043 and for the euro at 72.7467.
In cross—currency trade, the Indian unit also firmed up against the British to finish at 85.33 from 85.54 per pound and strengthened against the euro to 72.76 as compared to 73.16 earlier. It also hardened against the Japanese Yen to conclude at 59.15 per 100 yens from 59.92 previously.
Meanwhile, domestic bourses continued their bull run for the fourth consecutive session on Friday on growing optimism ahead of the annual budget next week, also supported by better than expected corporate earnings outcome.
Asian shares were mostly in the green, with the sight of the Dow Jones Industrial Average still above the historic 20,000 mark working its magic once again.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed above 20,000 points for the first time on Thursday on growing confidence that President Donald Trump will preside over a new era of US growth.
The benchmark Sensex jumped 174.32 points to end at 27,882.46, while broader Nifty rose 38.50 points to 8,641.25.
In the forward market, premium for dollar showed a modest weak trend in the absence of any market moving factors.
The benchmark six—month premium for June softened to 134.25—135.25 paise from 134—136 paise and the far—forward December 2017 contract also edged down to 276.25—278.25 paise from 277—279 paise on Wednesday.
Crude prices drifted modestly largely impacted by rising crude output from the United States, offsetting efforts by OPEC and other producers to cut supplies to prop up the market.
