Rupee Snaps 3-Day Fall, Ends At 67.29 Against Dollar

Mumbai: The rupee made a smart recovery against the US currency after falling for three straight days, and ended 16 paise higher at 67.29 against the US dollar on Thursday, on fresh bouts of selling of the American currency by banks and exporters.

A sharp rebound in local equity markets along with robust capital inflows also supported the domestic unit amid weakness of the greenback in overseas markets.

The rupee resumed marginally higher at 67.42 against previous close of 67.45 at the interbank foreign exchange (forex) market following smooth supply of dollar. It strengthened further to hit an intraday high of 67.20 before concluding at 67.29, revealing a gain of 16 paise, or 0.24 per cent.

The domestic currency had lost 42 paise against the dollar in three-day slide.

Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India fixed the reference rate for the dollar at 67.2533 and euro at 75.3035.

In cross-currency trades, the rupee remained firm against the pound sterling at 97.23 compared to 97.37 earlier, while ended virtually steady against the euro at 75.30.

However, it continued to decline against the yen and finished at 61.76 per 100 yens from 61.72 on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) turned net buyers once again and bought shares worth a net Rs 259.90 crore on Wednesday, provisional data released by stock exchanges showed.

On the global front, the dollar slipped to a fresh two-week low against a basket of major currencies after a mixed bag of US economic data once again raised concerns over whether the Federal Reserve will hike interest rates in June amid some caution ahead of US jobs report this weekend.

The dollar index, which tracks the world's reserve currency against a basket of its peers was trading at 95.36, down 0.05 per cent.

In forward market, premium for dollar moved down due to sustained receivings from exporters.

The benchmark 6-month premium for November edged down to 200-202 paise from 204-206 paise and far forward May 2017 contract also declined to 392-394 paise from 395-397 paise the previous day.

The Sensex jumped over 129 points to end at 26,843.14 while the broader Nifty reclaimed the key psychological 8,200-mark by gaining 39 points to 8,218.95.