Rupee advances most in three weeks

It opened at 63.21 and during intra-day trades it touched a high of 62.59 before closing at 62.67

The rupee advanced the most in three weeks after minutes of the US Federal Reserve's meeting last month confirmed that being “patient” on interest rates meant no increase before late April.

The strengthening was helped by gains in shares and dollar sales by foreign banks and companies. The rupee opened at 63.21 to a dollar and during intra-day trade, touched a high of 62.59, before closing at 62.67. It had ended at 63.18 on Wednesday. This was the biggest gain for the rupee since December 18.

Foreign lenders bought a net $ 1.2 billion of bonds on Wednesday, the biggest single-day purchase since August, data from the Clearing Corporation of India showed.

The S&P BSE Sensex climbed 1.4 per cent on Thursday, snapping a three-day and 3.5 per cent drop, as an improvement in investor sentiment spurred gains in global equities.

“The broad range for the rupee might be 62.50 to 63.25 till January 15,” said Sandeep Gonsalves, forex consultant and dealer, Mecklai & Mecklai.

“There was speculation that the Reserve Bank might have intervened at 62.62 but the move did not stop the rupee from strengthening,” said Suresh Nair, director at Admisi Forex.

Three-month offshore non-deliverable forwards for the rupee rose one per cent to 63.68 a dollar.

The yield on the 10-year benchmark government bond was little changed at 7.86 per cent. The bond market awaits the retail inflation data for December, to be issued on Monday.