Mumbai: The Indian rupee on Thursday strengthened marginally against the US dollar, tracking gains in local equities and Asian currencies. At 9.15am, the rupee was trading at 68.70 a dollar, up 0.12% from its previous close of 68.79. The currency opened at 68.70 a dollar.
The 10-year bond yield stood at 7.786%, from its Wednesday’s close of 7.787%. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.
Benchmark Sensex Index rose 0.09% or 33.13 points to 36,956.67. Since January, it has gained 8.23%.
So far this year, the rupee has weakened 7%, while foreign investors have sold $919.10 million and $6.07 billion in equity and debt markets, respectively.
Asian currencies were trading higher. South Korean won was up 0.53%, Japanese yen 0.2%, Taiwan dollar 0.18%, Indonesian rupiah 0.17%, China renminbi 0.1%. However, China offshore was down 0.14%, Philippines peso and Singapore dollar were down 0.06% each.
The dollar index, which measures the US currency’s strength against major currencies, was trading at 94.126, down 0.11% from its previous close of 94.233.