Mumbai: The rupee touched a five-week high in intra-day trading, backed by dollar sales by some foreign banks and foreign fund inflows.
Also, optimism about possible softening in the monetary stance of the central bank in the face of easing inflation has also added some comfort to the financial markets, dealers said.
Some of the foreign banks were seen selling the dollar towards noon aiding the local unit, they said. Foreign institutional investors have invested $241.9 million in local equity markets so far this year.
At 2.47pm, the domestic currency was trading at 61.4375, up 0.17% from the previous close. The unit, which opened at 61.49 per dollar, rose to 61.3225 in intra-day trading, a level last seen on 11 December. So far this month, the currency has gained 0.63%.
The yield on India’s 10-year benchmark bond maturing in 2023 was trading at 8.608%, compared with its Thursday’s close of 8.621%.
BSE’s 30-share bellwether equity index, Sensex, was trading at 21,051.72 points, down 1%, from the last close.
The dollar index, which measures the US currency’s strength against major currencies, was trading at 81.026, up 0.14% from the previous close of 80.91.
