Rupee closes stronger against US dollar at 64.74

Mumbai: The Indian rupee on Friday strengthened past the 65 mark against the US dollar, tracking gains in the Asian currencies market.

The rupee closed at 64.74 per dollar, up 0.53% from its previous close of 65.08.

The partially convertible currency opened at 64.90 a dollar and touched a high and a low of 64.76 and 64.92, respectively.

Most Asian currencies were trading higher after the minutes from the US Federal Reserve’s meeting last month showed officials discussed how strong US currency was dampening inflation and exports, Bloomberg reported.

The Fed noted that domestic economic conditions had continued to improve, though concerns over China and its potential spillover to other economies “were likely to depress US net exports”, the report added.

Indonesian rupiah gained 3.54%, Malaysian ringgit 2.57%, South Korean won 1.25%, Taiwan dollar 0.88%, Singapore dollar 0.77%, Thai baht 0.735%, Philippine peso 0.58% and Chinese renminbi added 0.13%. However, the Japanese yen lost 0.266% and Hong Kong Dollar declined 0.001%.

The benchmark index, Sensex index gained 0.87%, or 233.70 points, to close at 27,079.51, while the CNX Nifty ended 0.74%, or 60.35 points higher, 8,189.70.

The yield on India’s 10-year benchmark bond closed at 7.545% compared with its Thursday’s close of 7.536%. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.

Since the beginning of this year, the rupee has lost 2.61%, while foreign institutional investors have bought $3.83 billion from local equity and $6.29 billion from bond markets.

The dollar index, which measures the US currency’s strength against major currencies, was trading at 94.838 down 0.50% from the previous close of 95.318.