Mumbai: The Indian rupee on Monday strengthened against the US dollar, after local equity markets closed higher for sixth consecutive sessions.
The home currency ended at 64.85 against the dollar, up 0.30% from its Friday’s close of 65.05. The rupee opened at 64.92 a dollar and touched a high of 64.80.
BSE 30-share Sensex index rose 0.33%, or 108.94 points, to closed at 33,266.16. So far this year, the Sensex has gained 25%. In the last six trading sessions, the benchmark index gained 2.71% or 876 points.
Bond yield hits near six month high. The 10-year bond yield ended at 6.882% compared to its previous close of 6.805%. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.
So far this year, the rupee has gained 4.5%, while foreign institutional investors have bought $5.77 billion and $22.40 billion in equity and debt, respectively.
Asian currencies were trading higher ahead of the expected announcement of the new US Federal Reserve chair. According to a Bloomberg report, President Donald Trump favours Jerome Powell for the next Fed chair.
South Korean won was up 0.58%, Taiwan dollar 0.30%, Indonesian rupiah 0.16%, Philippines peso 0.14%, China renminbi 0.10%, Japanese yen 0.1%, China offshore 0.07% and Malaysian ringgit 0.06%.
The dollar index, which measures the US currency’s strength against major currencies, was trading at 94.812, down 0.29% from previous close.