Keeping pace with the stunning rally in domestic equities, the rupee today surged by a solid 16 paise to end at an over one—month high of 64.59 against the US currency following frantic dollar unwinding.

Overall forex market sentiment witnessed a sea change in the macroeconomic parameters after India jumped to 100th position in the World Bank's ‘ease of doing business’ ranking following government’s strong policy measures to attract investments and revive the economy.

Adding more value, eight core sectors grew to a six-month high of 5.2 per cent in September, helped by a robust performance in coal, natural gas and refinery segments, official data showed.

The rupee has been rallying over the past three sessions against the greenback and appreciated by a healthy 46 paise.

This is the highest closing for the home currency since September 20, when it had ended at 64.27.

Wide-ranging reforms have been undertaken in the last few months and that have led to improved investment climate, a forex dealer commented.

Increased FDI inflows and government’s ‘Make in India’ campaign to encourage international market players to start businesses in India is started to yield results, he added.

Meanwhile, domestic bourses made a stellar rebound and conquered fresh historic highs on the back of strong liquidity driven rally, also supported by an overall positive sentiment.

The flagship Sensex soared over 387 points to close at a record peak of 33,600.27, while Nifty soared 105 points to end at new high of of 10,440.50.

Asian stocks too rallied with Tokyo and Seoul leading the way.

At the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market, the rupee resumed firm at 64.71 from overnight close of 64.75 as foreign banks and exporters liquidated their dollar bets.

Steering its strong momentum, the local unit touched an intra—day high of 64.51 in later deals before concluding at 64.59, showing a smart rise of 16 paise, or 0.25 per cent.

In the meantime, the dollar inched up broadly ahead to the US Federal Reserve’s November monetary policy decision.

The RBI, meanwhile, fixed the reference rate for the dollar at 64.5256 and for the euro at 75.0755.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback’s value against a basket of six major currencies, was sharply up at 94.66 in early trade.

In cross—currency trades, the rupee remained under pressure against the pound sterling and settled at 85.87 from 85.55 per pound, but recovered against the Japanese yen to end at 56.64 per 100 yens as compared to 57.13 earlier.

The rupee also rebounded against the euro to finish at 75.14 from 75.31 yesterday.

Elsewhere, pound sterling continues to strengthen against the greenback ahead of tomorrow’s Bank of England meeting on higher than expected UK manufacturing PMI in October with investors expecting dovish rate hike from Bank of England on Thursday, while common currency euro traded little changed.

In forward market today, the premium for dollar for the new month moved higher owing to fresh paying pressure from corporates.

The benchmark six—month premium payable in April edged up to 142.75—144.75 paise from 141.50—143.50 paise and the far forward October 2018 contract also firmed up to 283—285 paise from 281—283 on Tuesday.

On the international energy front, global crude surged to its highest since mid—2015 on Wednesday after data showed OPEC has significantly improved compliance with its pledged supply cuts and Russia is also widely expected to keep to the deal.

The oil price rallied 7 per cent in October, marking the fourth consecutive month of gains.

Brent crude futures were up 59 cents at USD 61.53 per barrel in early Asian trade.

The US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was at USD 55.12 a barrel, up 74 cents.

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