The rupee strengthened by 40 paise to close at 74.36 (provisional) against the US dollar on Thursday amid indications of Joe Biden’s victory in the US presidential elections.
Traders said positive domestic equities and a weak American currency overseas also supported the local unit.
At the interbank forex market, the domestic unit opened at 74.35 against the US dollar, and finally closed at 74.36, registering a rise of 40 paise over its previous close.
During the session, the local unit witnessed an intra-day high of 74.25 and a low of 74.41 against the greenback.
On Wednesday, the rupee had plunged by 35 paise to close at its weakest level in over 10 weeks at 74.76.
“It is believed that the Republican Party is likely to retain its majority in the US Senate if the Democratic Party candidate Joe Biden emerges victorious in the presidential polls,” said Ankit Agarwal, Managing Director, Alankit Limited.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.22 per cent down at 93.20.
On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share BSE benchmark Sensex was trading 658.24 points higher at 41,274.38 and the broader NSE Nifty surged 195.50 points to 12,104.00.
Foreign institutional investors were net buyers in the capital market as they purchased shares worth ₹ 146.22 crore on Wednesday, according to provisional exchange data.
Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, fell 0.75 per cent to USD 40.92 per barrel.
