Rupee rises to 10-month high of 58.61 against dollar

The Indian rupee strengthened to 58.61 against a dollar Friday, the strongest position in over 10 months, on huge foreign capital inflow in equities markets, as early vote counts showed landslide victory for Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the general elections.

The partially convertible rupee strengthened by 68 paise to 58.61 against a dollar in early trade at the Interbank Foreign Exchange Markets here.

The rupee gained by 39 paise to close at 59.29 against the dollar Thursday.

Huge inflow of foreign money in equities markets and sale of American currency by banks and exporters strengthened the Indian currency position.

The Indian currency touched a high of 58.61 and low of 59.35 against a dollar in the intra-day. The rupee was quoted at 58.75 against a dollar at 11.15 a.m. Indian Standard Time (IST).

The Indian stock market's benchmark Sensex rallied by 1,400 points to soar past 25,000 points mark for the first time in the intra-day as early vote counts showed Narendra Modi is set to become next prime minister.

The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is set for an absolute majority in the Lok Sabha, while the ruling Congress is headed for its worst ever performance, early vote counts showed.