Rupee up 17 paise on heavy dollar selling; at 2-week high of 64.44

It was further supported by unwinding of long-dollar positions by speculators

The rupee on Monday came back strongly against the US currency by surging 17 paise to close at a two-week high of 64.44 on heavy dollar selling by exporters and banks.

The domestic currency was further supported by unwinding of long-dollar positions by speculators against the backdrop of rising risk-on sentiment.

In equities, benchmark Sensex too saw a smart rebound of 291 points, its biggest single-session gain in nearly 6 weeks, and ended at a fresh two-week high of 29,656 buoyed by robust earnings outcome amid global rally.

Healthy FII (foreign institutional investors) investments into equities and debt also supported the recovery momentum.

Foreign investors pumped in a staggering $3 billion in the capital markets this month so far as regulator Sebi (Securities and Exchange Board of India) has raised investment limit for FPIs (foreign portfolio investments) in government debt.

According to the depository data, FPIs infused a net sum of Rs 1,132 crore in equities during April 3-21 and another Rs 17,758 crore in the debt segment, translating into a combined inflow of Rs 18,890 crore ($2.91 billion).

The home unit resumed firmly higher at 64.55 from last weekend's closing value of 64.61 at the Interbank Foreign Exchange market owing to smooth supply of dollars.

Maintaining its strong edge over greenback, the rupee touched a fresh intra-day high of 64.43 in late afternoon deals before ending at 64.44, showing a smart gain of 17 paise or 0.26 per cent. Monday's rupee closing was the highest since April 14, when it closed at 64.41.

The RBI (Reserve Bank of India), meanwhile, fixed the reference rate for the dollar at 64.4757 and for the euro at 69.9884.

In worldwide trade, the US dollar traded lower against most major world currencies ahead of key macro data this week for clarity on the Federal Reserve's interest rate policy.

The dollar index, which tracks the US currency against a basket of six major rivals, was sharply down by 0.77 per cent at 98.95.

In cross-currency trade, the local unit fell back against the pound sterling to settle at 82.61 from 82.55 per pound and also retreated against the euro to finish at 69.95 compared to 69.16 earlier.

The domestic currency, however, bounced back sharply against the Japanese Yen to finish at 58.45 per 100 yens from 59.23 on Sunday.

Meanwhile, country's forex kitty rose by $889.4 million to $369.887 billion in the week ended April 14, helped by an increase in foreign currency assets, the RBI said.

They had declined by $956.4 million to $368.998 billion in the previous reporting week.

On the equity front, the flagship Sensex skyrocketed by a whopping 290.54 points to close at 29,655.84, while Nifty jumped over 98 points to 9,217.95.

In the forward market on Monday, the premium for dollar declined modestly owing to persistent receivings from exporters.

The benchmark six-month premium for September softened to 143-145 paise from 144-146 paise and the far-forward March 2018 also eased to 303-305 paise from 303.5-305.5 paise last weekend.

In the global commodity front, crude prices recovered some lost ground on Monday on expectations that the Opec (Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) will extend output cuts till the end of 2017, although a relentless rise in US drilling capped gains.

Brent crude futures rose 42 cents to $52.38 per barrel, while the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures also added 42 cents to trade at $50.04 a barrel.