Rupee claws back some lost ground, rises 23 paise against US dollar

The Indian rupee Friday recuperated by 23 paise to close at 70.67 against the US dollar in line with rally in domestic stocks and positive global cues.

Forex dealers said the local unit recovered lost ground tracking weakness in American dollar against some currencies overseas following reports that the Federal Reserve could slow down its pace of interest rate hikes next year.

At the Interbank Foreign Exchange (forex), the rupee opened on a firm footing at 70.58 against the US dollar and surged further to touch a high of 70.44 during the day.

The local unit finally settled for the day at 70.67, higher by 23 paise over its previous closing price.

On Thursday, the rupee fell by 44 paise against the dollar to close at 70.90.

The BSE Sensex rallied 361.12 points, or 1.02 per cent, to close at 35,673.25. Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty jumped 92.55 points, or 0.87 per cent, to 10,693.70.

Meanwhile, Brent crude, the international oil benchmark, was trading 0.52 per cent higher at USD 60.37 per barrel Friday.

The Financial Benchmark India Private Ltd (FBIL) set the reference rate for the rupee/dollar at 70.5663 and for rupee/euro at 80.2245. The reference rate for rupee/British pound was fixed at 90.1212 and for rupee/100 Japanese yen at 62.53.