Rupee gains 15 paise to end at over 2-week high on forex inflows

The rupee on Wednesday appreciated by 15 paise to close at more than two-week high of 71.35 against the US dollar on gains in domestic equities and sustained foreign fund inflows.

Forex traders said the rupee appreciated for the second straight day on foreign inflows in primary as well as secondary equity market.

At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened strong at 71.43 against the US dollar. During the day, the domestic unit fluctuated between a high of 71.30 and a low of 71.48.

"The biggest factors for appreciation in rupee remains foreign fund inflows. For the current fiscal, RBI has purchased dollar more than USD 36 billion which helped rupee appreciation," said V K Sharma, Head PCG & Capital Markets Strategy, HDFC securities.

Foreign investors remained net buyers of Indian equities with a purchase of Rs 46.93 crore of shares on a net basis on Wednesday. FIIs bought shares of more than Rs 5,100 crore on a net basis in the past two sessions.

"Rupee rallied primarily supported by gains in domestic equities and fund inflows by the FIIs in the equity segment," Gaurang Somaiyaa, Forex & Bullion Analyst, Motilal Oswal Financial Services Private Ltd. This month, FIIs poured in funds of USD 3.4 billion (around Rs 24,266 crore) in the equity segment until now as compared to inflow of USD 1.7 billion (around Rs 12,130 crore) in the previous month.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, rose 0.06 per cent to 98.31.

Meanwhile, the 10-year government bond yield was at 6.47 per cent on Wednesday.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, rose 0.37 per cent to USD 64.51 per barrel in futures trade.

Key stock indices rose to fresh life-time highs in line with gains in Asian markets. The 30-share Sensex rose by 199.31 points or 0.49 per cent to end at a new life-time high of 41,020.61 while the Nifty gained 63 points or 0.52 per cent to settle at a new peak of 12,100.70.

The Financial Benchmark India Private Ltd (FBIL) set the reference rate for the rupee/dollar at 71.5909 and for rupee/euro at 78.8540. The reference rate for rupee/British pound was fixed at 92.3231 and for rupee/100 Japanese yen at 65.70.