Rupee At Nearly 6-Month Closing High Of 73.40 Against Dollar

Rupee Vs Dollar: The rupee jumped by 41 paise - or 0.56 per cent - to end at 73.40 against the US dollar on Friday, its highest close recorded since March 5. The rupee appreciated to as high as 73.28 against the greenback during the four-hour session, having opened nearly unchanged at 73.83. Analysts say weakness in the dollar overseas and gains in domestic equity markets amid strong foreign fund inflows supported the rupee. 

At the current level, the rupee has taken its recovery from an all-time low of 76.91 in April to 4.56 per cent. However, it is still down 2.86 per cent against the dollar so far this year.

Domestic stock markets continued to rise for the sixth session in a row. The S&P BSE Sensex index closed up 0.90 per cent at 39,467.31 and the broader NSE Nifty 50 benchmark settled at 11,647.60, up 0.76 per cent from its previous close.

The dollar index - which gauges the US dollar against six other currencies - was last seen trading close to its intraday low of 92.1980, which was down 0.86 per cent compared to its previous close.

Asian currencies rose against the American currency, with the Japanese yen last seen up 1.06 per cent and Chinese yuan up 0.45 per cent. That was a day after the US central bank rolled out a sweeping rewrite of its approach to its role of achieving maximum employment and stable prices and promised to aim for 2 per cent inflation on average.

The Federal Reserve suggested that interest rates in the world's largest economy may stay near zero for much longer than anticipated.

Meanwhile, crude oil prices edged lower on Friday as storm Laura past the heart of the US oil industry in Louisiana and Texas, without causing any widespread damage to refineries. Global benchmark Brent futures were last down 0.13 per cent at $45.03 per dollar.

"With more and more corporates and banks going for QIPs (qualified institutional placements) and stake sales, foreign inflows are bound to come in the economy which will keep the overall pressure on the rupee towards appreciation side and the (USD-INR) pair could more close to 73.00 levels in the coming months," said Amit Pabari, managing director of forex advisory firm CR Forex Advisors.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) have net purchased Indian equities worth $6.2 billion so far this month.