Rupee Jumps To Close At 68.74 Against Dollar

The rupee recovered from the day's low to close at 68.74 against the dollar on Tuesday, a day after the central bank announced a second dollar-rupee swap. That marked a gain of 40 paise in the rupee against the greenback compared to the previous close of 69.14. Sustained foreign fund inflows and heavy buying in domestic equities supported the currency. Forex dealers said foreign fund inflows in the debt and equity markets helped the rupee recover.

At the Interbank Foreign Exchange (forex), the domestic currency opened lower at 69.32 against the dollar but recovered the losses to touch an intraday high of 68.70, before settling at 68.74 at the end of the session.

The rupee had appreciated by 16 paise to close at 69.14 on Friday. The forex market was closed on Monday.

According to VK Sharma, head PCG and capital markets strategy, HDFC Securities, the rupee and bonds rose after the the RBI announced the dollar-rupee swap. "Sovereign bonds gain as RBI's currency swap will add to liquidity in the banking system," he said.

"The swap auction comes ahead of the important RBI policy statement that is scheduled this week. The central bank is expected to cut rates and a dovish statement could put pressure on the rupee."

The Reserve Bank of India on Monday said it would inject long-term liquidity worth $5 billion into the banking system through the dollar-rupee buy-sell swap for a tenure of three years on April 23, the second such auction within a month.

Forex dealers said foreign fund inflows and heavy buying in domestic equities supported the rupee, however, strengthening of the US dollar and rising crude prices restricted the upmove.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) remained net buyers in the capital markets, putting in Rs 543.36 crore Tuesday, as per the provisional data.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, rose 0.10 per cent to trade at $69.08 per barrel.

The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, surged 0.17 per cent to 97.39.

Rising for the fourth session in a row, the BSE benchmark Sensex on Tuesday added 185 points to clock an all-time closing high of 39,056. The NSE Nifty closed above the key 11,700 level on intense buying mainly in auto, IT and banking stocks amid hopes of a reduction in the key lending rate by the RBI.