Mumbai: The rupee on Thursday rebounded from its record lows on Wednesday, aided by Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) steps to sell dollars directly to oil marketing companies, but is still trading under pressure. Dealers said it is premature to say whether the gains will be sustained later in the day.
At 2.01 pm, the rupee was trading at 67.59 against the dollar, up 1.72%, from its previous close of 68.83. The unit, worst performer among Asian currencies, opened at 67.21 a dollar and rose to a high of 66.84 early in the day, but couldn’t hold on to its gains for long.
On Wednesday, the rupee had touched a record low of 68.83, logging its biggest single-day decline in 20 years.
Strength in Asian stocks and equity markets too helped the battered unit to improve its position against the dollar, dealers said. BSE’s benchmark Sensex was trading at 18,341.06 points, up 1.92%.
On Wednesday, RBI said it will sell the US currency to Indian Oil Corp. Ltd, Bharat Petroleum Corp. Ltd and Hindustan Petroleum Corp. Ltd, which the central bank will repurchase after a specified period. The measure, which came into effect immediately, will continue until further notice and will be available to the companies through a designated bank, RBI said.
The dollar index, which measures the US currency’s strength against major currencies, was trading at 81.794, up 0.44% from the previous close of 81.431, data from Bloomberg showed.
Bond yields eased. The yield on India’s 10-year benchmark bond was trading at 8.827% compared with its previous close of 8.966%. It opened trade at 8.787% and eased to 8.777% in the intra-day. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.
