Mumbai: The rupee on Wednesday closed at six-week high against the US dollar as local equity markets gained 380 points after India jumped 30 spots to 100 in World Bank’s ease of doing business ranking for 2018.
The home currency closed at 64.60 against the dollar—a level last seen on 20 September, up 0.24% from its Tuesday’s close of 64.75. The rupee opened at 64.68 a dollar and touched a high of 64.51.
The BSE benchmark index rose 1.17%, or 387.14 points, to closed at 33,600.27 points. So far this year, the Sensex has gained 26.19%.
India’s ranking in the World Bank ease of doing business survey for 2018 climbed a record 30 notches to 100 as a range of regulatory and policy reforms put in place by the Union and state governments over the past four years started delivering results.
Traders focus on central bank meetings and the nomination of the next US Federal Reserve chair. According to a Bloomberg report, rates are widely seen staying unchanged and investors appear more focused on the nomination of the next Fed chair, which is expected on Thursday.
The 10-year bond yield ended at 6.893% compared to its previous close of 6.862%. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.
So far this year, the rupee has gained 5.15%, while foreign institutional investors have bought $5.81 billion and $22.54 billion in equity and debt, respectively.
Asian currencies were trading higher. SOuth Korean won was up 0.54%, China renminbi 0.36%, China offshore 0.29%, Thai baht 0.24%, Singapore dollar 0.16%, Taiwan dollar 0.04%. However, Japanese yen was down 0.34%, Indonesian rupiah 0.13%, Philippines peso 0.11%.
The dollar index, which measures the US currency’s strength against major currencies, was trading at 94.63, up 0.08% from its previous close of 94.552.