RTTN:Indian Rupee Rises To 6-day High Against US Dollar
The Indian rupee jumped to a 6-day high of 54.24 against the US dollar on Monday on the back of solid equities' rally, which rose despite weak Asian cues and disappointing economic data. The USD/INR pair closed last week's deals at 54.2850.
India's current account deficit widened to a record high 6.7 percent of GDP in the October-December 2012 quarter, official data that came out after market hours on Thursday showed.
India's manufacturing output expanded at its weakest pace in 16 months in March as persistent power cuts hampered production activity and export orders expanded at the slowest pace in seven months, a survey showed today.
The seasonally adjusted HSBC India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) -- a measure of India's factory output - stood at 52 in March, down from 54.2 in the previous month.
Meanwhile, addressing a news conference in Tokyo, Finance Minister P Chidambaram reiterated that the government is committed to reforms to tackle a large current account deficit and accelerate growth in the current fiscal year to March 2014.
The benchmark BSE Sensex ended a volatile session higher at 18,865, up 29 points or 0.15 percent from its previous close, while the broader Nifty index rose by 22 points or 0.38 percent to 5,704.
