Rupee Rises To Nearly 6-Month High Of 73.28 Against Dollar

Rupee Vs Dollar: The rupee jumped by 53 paise - or 0.72 per cent - to touch the 73.28 mark against the US dollar on Friday, tracking strength across Asian currencies against the greenback. That marked the strongest intraday level of the rupee recorded since March 5. The rupee started the day nearly unchanged at 73.83 against the dollar, compared to its previous close of 73.81, and climbed to as high as 73.28 during the four-hour session. It was last seen trading 0.57 per cent higher at 73.39 against the US currency in late afternoon deals.

Foreign fund inflows into the domestic equities and amid a noticeable absence of dollar buying by the central bank strengthened the rupee, according to analysts. 

"The sharp fall in the USD-INR spot has been very unexpected and traders are in shock, with every major support being tested... Initially, the RBI was protecting 74.50 zone but its absence has led to a free fall," said Rahul Gupta, head of research-currency at Emkay Global Financial Services.

The dollar index - which measures the greenback against six other currencies - was last seen trading 0.60 per cent lower, having earlier declined as much as 0.64 per cent on Friday.

Asian currencies pushed higher against the US dollar, with the Japanese yen last seen up 0.58 per cent and Chinese yuan up 0.44 per cent. The Singaporean dollar, the South Korean won and the Indonesian rupiah were up 0.42 per cent, 0.05 per cent and 0.19 per cent respectively at the time.

The US central bank on Thursday 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, suggesting interest rates may stay near zero for much longer than anticipated.

"Globally, risk sentiments have strengthened on aggressive stimulus by Fed and there has been sharp inflows into local stocks. The question arise whether can we expect RBI intervention going ahead or it is comfortable with current levels," he added. 

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

At Thursday's close, the rupee has taken its recovery from an all-time low of 76.91 in April to 4.03 per cent. However, for the year, it is still down 3.43 per cent against the dollar.