Mumbai:
The rupee strengthened by 63 paise and closed for the day at 73.13 (provisional) against the US dollar on Thursday, as positive domestic equities and weak American currency buoyed investor sentiments.
At the interbank forex market, the domestic unit opened at 73.60 against the US dollar, then gained further ground and finally settled at 73.13, registering a rise of 63 paise over its previous close.
On Wednesday, the rupee closed at 73.76 against the US dollar.
During the session, the domestic unit witnessed an intra-day high of 73.07 and a low of 73.60 against the greenback.
Forex traders said, the appreciation in the rupee was supported by strong macroeconomic data.
“We are expecting the rupee to trade with a slight appreciation bias in the near-term, given the persistent dollar inflows in the domestic market and a healthy current account surplus,” said Sugandha Sachdeva VP-Metals, Energy and Currency Research, Religare Broking.
Sachdeva further noted that “72.80 remains a strong hurdle for the rupee, and the Reserve Bank of India may not be very comfortable allowing it to appreciate above those levels.”
Going ahead, the market will be watching developments around the next round of US fiscal stimulus package, without which the upbeat risk appetite may not be able to sustain for very long, Sachdeva said.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.11 per cent down at 93.78.
On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share BSE benchmark Sensex was trading 594.68 points higher at 38,662.61 and broader NSE Nifty surged 162.75 points to 11,410.30.
Foreign institutional investors were net sellers in the capital market as they offloaded shares worth Rs 712.48 crore on Wednesday, according to provisional exchange data.
Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, fell 0.38 per cent to USD 42.14 per barrel.
