Mumbai: The Indian rupee on Monday strengthened past 67-mark to hit one-month high against the US dollar, tracking gains in Asian currencies.
At 9.15am, the rupee was trading at 66.86 against the US dollar, up 0.31% from its previous close of 67.06. The currency opened at 66.97 a dollar and touched a high of 66.85—a level last seen on 7 May.
The yield of 10-year government bonds gained for the fifth consecutive session ahead of the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) bi-monthly policy outcome on 6 June.
Of the 15 economists surveyed by Mint, 11 expect the central bank to keep the repo rate—the rate at which the central bank infuses liquidity in the banking system—unchanged at 6%. Only four economists expect RBI to raise rates by 25 basis points (bps).
The 10-year bond yield stood at 7.852% from its Friday’s close of 7.848%. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.
So far this year, the rupee has weakened 4.5%, while foreign investors have sold $244.50 million and $4.49 billion in equity and debt markets, respectively.
Benchmark Sensex Index rose 0.79% or 277.96 points to 35,505.22. Since January, it has gained 3.44%.
Asian currencies were trading higher after US jobs data added to optimism over the strength of the world’s largest economy. US nonfarm payroll figures came in well ahead of estimates on Friday, bolstering the case for the Federal Reserve to hike four times this year.
South Korean won was up 0.42%, Singapore dollar 0.22%, Indonesian rupiah 0.20%, Thai Baht 0.16%, Philippines peso 0.08%, Taiwan dollar 0.07%. However, Japanese yen was down 0.07%.
The dollar index, which measures the US currency’s strength against major currencies, was trading at 94.009, down 0.16% from its previous close of 94.156.