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Rupee Breaks 4-Day Losing Streak, But Still Below 71 Mark Against Dollar: 10 Points
17 Jan 2019, 06:17 PM IST 
- The rupee opened at 71.15 against the American currency on Thursday, and moved in a range of 70.92-71.40 before settling at 71.03 for the day.
- Analysts say easing of external commercial borrowing (ECB) rules by the RBI supported the rupee.
- The Reserve Bank of India, on Wednesday, relaxed offshore borrowing rules for companies and financial institutions. Borrowers can now raise funds from offshore markets for at least three years without any ceiling on the amount.
- "Central bank eased overseas borrowing rules for companies, which also helped rupee to recover from the lower levels," said VK Sharma, head PCG and capital markets strategy, HDFC Securities.
- Previously, the RBI had only allowed companies to borrow up to $50 million for three years. For funds beyond $50 million companies had to borrow for at least five years.
- The dollar index - which measures the greenback against six major peers - was last seen trading 0.01 per cent lower.
- Crude oil prices fell 2 per cent on Thursday amid concerns about rising US output and the US-China trade dispute. Brent futures - the global benchmark for crude oil - were last seen down 1.8 per cent around $60 a barrel levels.
- "The Brent crude rally halted today on the face of strongly rising crude oil production coming out of the US... The rupee was among the top five best performing emerging market currencies today," said Sunil Sharma, chief investment officer, Sanctum Wealth Management.
- The domestic equity markets managed to finish higher for a third session in a row amid high volatility. Benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty finished 0.2 per cent and 0.1 per cent respectively, after a choppy session as advances in IT and energy stocks were offset by weakness in pharma and state-run banks.
- The rupee had declined by 83 paise - or 1.2 per cent - in the past four sessions.
(With agency inputs)