LM:Rupee inches up in afternoon trade due to foreign banks’ dollar sales
Mumbai: The rupee was trading higher against the US dollar in intra-day trading on Monday mainly because of dollar sales by foreign banks, most likely on behalf of their clients.
At 3pm, the Indian currency was trading at 61.92 per dollar, compared to its Friday’s close of Rs.62.04. It had opened at 62.04 earlier.
“Dollar supply is surely outweighing the demand currently. There are some European banks on the sell side which has kept the support for the rupee,” said a dealer with a French bank who didn’t want to be named.
Foreign banks could be selling dollars on behalf of foreign institutional investors (FIIs) that want to buy more of Indian shares as the local stock market is near all-time highs.
The BSE’s 30-share benchmark index Sensex was up 44 points at 21,123. Yield on the 10-year bond was at 8.78%, little changed from 8.79% on Friday.
Trade was thin in the foreign exchange market as many dealers were on year-end holidays.
