The rupee closed at 59.91 a dollar as compared to 60.31 on Thursday. It rose to 59.68, its strongest since July 30, 2013. The appreciation of rupee against the dollar would continue till election results are out, said Naveen Mathur, Associate Director-Commodity & Currencies, Angel Broking.
“The rupee has appreciated strongly in the last few trading sessions, largely due to strong inflow of foreign funds into Indian equities on the back of positive sentiments both on economic front and anticipated political scenario,” said Mr. Mathur.
“The Reserve Bank of India saved the day as large bids from state-run banks has absorbed much of the inflows,” said Anindya Banerjee, Currency Analyst, Kotak Securities. Over the near-term, “we expect a range of 59.70/90 and 60.60/80 on the spot. April is expected to keep the rupee in a volatile range, as multiple phases of polls keep the market nervous.”
ADVERTISEMENT
Meanwhile, stock indices moved up sharply to record all time-highs on Friday prior to the monetary policy announcement on Tuesday while the rupee touched an eight-month high above 60 a dollar on the back of hefty inflows from foreign investors. The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) 30-share Sensitive Index (Sensex) closed at 22,339.97 with a gain of 125.60 points.
Friday’s rise was broad-based and all sectors participated in the up move. The rally was led by power stocks which gained by 3.02 per cent, followed by realty (1.61 per cent), metal (1.52 per cent), banks (1.19 per cent) and healthcare (0.84 per cent).
ADVERTISEMENT
“Profit booking pared much of initial gains by noon. But in the last hour of trade, markets witnessed higher buying interest post rupee breaching 60 against dollar”, said Vinod Nair, Head - Fundamental Research, Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services.
CNX PSU Banks closed 4.73 per cent higher as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) extended implementation of Basel III norms, said Mr. Nair, adding, “other sectors that gained include high beta sectors like metals, realty and energy.”
As RBI’s meet is scheduled on Tuesday, it is most likely to turn out to be a non-event,” Mr. Nair added.
Among the broader indices, BSE 100 gained by 0.99 per cent, BSE 200 was up by 1.01 per cent and BSE 500 surged by 1.04 per cent.
While the mid-cap stocks gained by 1.46 per cent, small-cap stocks were up by 1.19 per cent.
On the National Stock Exchange (NSE), the 50-share Nifty closed at 6,695.90 with a gain of 54.15 points or 0.82 per cent.
Global markets closed mixed for the week. The U.S. indices ended in the negative zone on geopolitical concerns related to annexation of Crimea by Russia. Tech-heavy Nasdaq underperformed significantly during the week. Asian indices closed in the green.