Mumbai: The rupee weakened against the dollar on Friday on demand for the US currency from importers. Losses in equity markets also weighed on the exchange rate.
At 2.05pm, the domestic currency was trading at 60.28 per dollar, down 0.17% form its previous close. The currency had opened at 60.36 a dollar and fell to 60.39, before recovering a bit.
India’s benchmark equity index, Sensex, was trading at 22,345.18 points, down 0.73%. Sensex rose to its record high of 22,620 points in the intra-day trade on Thursday.
So far this year, the rupee has risen 2.51% while foreign institutional investors (FIIs) have bought local equities worth $4.27 billion in the Indian market. In local debt, their purchase has crossed $6 billion.
The yield on India’s 10-year benchmark bond was trading at 9.026%, compared with its Thursday’s close of 9.005%.
The dollar index, which measures the US currency’s strength against major currencies, was trading at 80.509, from the previous close of 80.475.
