Maintaining its upbeat momentum, the rupee today firmed up by another 9 paise to end at a fresh one-week high of 67.08 against the US dollar amid sustained selling of the American currency by banks and exporters.

Robust capital inflows along with a smart rebound in domestic equities and unwinding of some dollar positions by speculators further supported the sentiment.

The domestic unit gained 9 paise, or 0.13 per cent, at the close.

The rupee resumed almost flat with a negative bias at 67.18 from Thursday’s closing level of 67.17 at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market and weakened further to hit an intra-day low of 67.21 on initial dollar demand from importers and corporates.

However, the local currency swung completely in the opposite direction in mid-afternoon trade on the back of adequate dollar supply and accelerated gains to end firmly higher at 67.08, showing a smart rise of 9 paise, or 0.13 per cent.

The US dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was up 0.23 per cent at 97.16 in early trade.

The RBI fixed the reference rate for the dollar at 67.1355 and euro at 74.0303.

In cross-currency trades, the rupee staged a rebound against the pound sterling to close at 87.90 as against 88.51 yesterday and edged higher against the euro to settle at 73.91 compared to 73.98 previously.

But, the rupee held virtually steady against the Japanese yen at 63.22 per 100 yens.

Related Topics
comment COMMENT NOW