Mumbai: The Indian rupee on Wednesday recovered from a 15-month low against the US dollar amid speculations that state-run banks sold dollars on behalf of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to support the currency, Bloomberg reported.
The rupee closed at 67.80 against US dollar, up 0.46% from its previous close of 68.11. The currency opened at 68.11 a dollar and touched a high and a low of 67.76 and 68.13, respectively.
On Tuesday, the rupee weakened past 68-mark first time since January 2017, after Karnataka election results showed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will fall short of gaining a clear majority in Karnataka assembly election.
The 10-year bond yield ended at 7.901%, up from its previous close of 7.905%. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.
Trade deficit widened to $13.72 billion in April 2018, from $13.69 billion in March, and compared with the $13.25 billion shortfall in the same month last year, according to official data released on Tuesday.
So far this year, rupee weakened over 5.4% while foreign investors have bought $793.60 million and sold $3.26 billion in equity and debt markets, respectively.
Benchmark Sensex Index fell 0.44% or 156.05 points to 35387.88. Since start of January, it gained 3.5%.
Overnight, US benchmark 10-year yields jumped to the highest level since 2011, that fuelled bets the Federal Reserve may raise rates three more times this year.