Rupee hits 8-wk high of 64.96 vs $, up 45 paise

Fourth sharpest one-day rise in 2015

The rupee appreciated to 64.96 a dollar on Wednesday, breaching the 65 mark, a level last seen in August (eight-week high). This was the fourth sharpest one day-rise for the rupee against the dollar in 2015.

The rupee had opened at 65.29 on Wednesday and during intra-day trades, it touched a low of 65.37 compared with the previous close of 65.41. The rupee had ended at 64.81 a dollar on August 12. The sharpest appreciation of the rupee was witnessed on September 18, when it ended at 65.67, up 79 paise compared to the previous close.

“Today (Wednesday), there were foreign flows in domestic market which helped the rupee appreciate. Besides that, there was also dollar sale by exporters. The rupee may trade in the range of 64.75 to 65.25 per dollar tomorrow (Thursday),” said Sandeep Gonsalves, forex consultant and dealer, Mecklai & Mecklai.

Since the start of this month, the rupee had already appreciated by nearly one per cent so far. The rupee had ended at 65.59 a dollar on September 30.

“I do not see a sharp appreciation in the rupee from here. I think, it will move in the range of 64.60-65.25. The rupee will wait for the outcome of the next US Federal Reserve's meeting later this month and then take cues from there,” said N S Venkatesh, executive director and head of treasury at IDBI Bank.

The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) will hold its two-day meeting on October 27-28. Last month, US Federal Reserve chairwoman Janet Yellen had communicated her intention to raise interest rate in the current calendar year itself. But the weak jobs report raised doubts if the economy was robust enough to withstand a rate rise this calendar year.

According to latest data, US non-farm jobs rose by 142,000 in September, considerably lower than the 203,000 jobs the markets had expected.

Currency experts believe the other factor which is positive for the rupee is the recent enhancement of the investment limit of foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) for domestic debt. For FPIs, the Reserve Bank of India will be increasing the investment limit for government securities to Rs 1,79,500 crore by January 1 from the existing Rs 1,53,500 crore. For state development loans, the limit will be enhanced to Rs 7,000 crore by January 1; currently it is nil.