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Rupee Gains Sharply To Return To 73 Levels Against Dollar: 10 Things To Know
12 Oct 2018, 06:49 PM IST 
The rupee registered a weekly gain of 19 paise against the dollar
- The rupee moved higher against the greenback for the third session in a row. That helped the rupee finish the week with an overall gain of 19 paise against the American currency.
- Friday's gain marked the highest single-session gain in the rupee since September 19, when it had settled 61 paise higher.
- The jump came a day after the government announced a hike in import duty on select communications items, in its bid to support the currency and narrow the trade gap. It raised the import duty on items such as base stations to up to 20 per cent.
- Analysts however expect weakness in the rupee to continue going forward.
- "We see the current strengthening only as a temporary blip mainly due to weakening of the oil to $80 per barrel and US bond yields dropping due to lower inflation data," said Salil Datar, CEO and executive director at Essel Finance VKC Forex.
- Mr Datar said he expects the rupee to trade closer to 74 levels against the dollar.
- Crude oil prices rose slightly on Friday, reversing two days of declines driven by sharp falls in equity markets and indications that supply concerns have been overblown. Brent crude - the global benchmark for crude oil - was on track for a weekly fall at $80 a barrel levels.
- The International Energy Agency (IEA), in its monthly report, trimmed its forecasts for world oil demand growth this year and next, citing an "adequately supplied market".
- Domestic stock markets bounced back to register their biggest single-day gain since late May 2016. The 30-share Sensex gained a 2.2 per cent and the broader Nifty 2.3 per cent, a day after they registered a decline of 2.2 per cent triggered by a global selloff.
- Consumer inflation picked up to 3.77 per cent in September, as against 3.69 per cent in the previous month, official data showed post-market hours on on Friday. That marked a second straight month of consumer inflation falling within the RBI's medium-target of 4 per cent. The central bank primarily tracks consumer inflation data while formulating the monetary policy.
(With agency inputs)