Rupee gains 9 paise amid bullish stock market , greenback selling

Strong momentum of buying in domestic equities by foreign institutional investors helps the rupee

Extending its gains for the second session, the rupee today firmed up by 9 paise to 64.55 on dollar unwinding amid continued political worries in the US.

Besides, selling of the greenback by exporters and banks, a firm domestic stock market also supported the rupee, a forex dealer said.

At the Interbank Foreign Exchange market, the rupee kicked off the session on a positive note at 64.52 from last close of 64.64 on sustained dollar selling and added further strength to hit an intra-day high of 64.4375.

But, it turned volatile in late afternoon trade amid uncertainty on the US political front along with some month- end dollar demand from corporates, dragging the rupee to touch a low of 64.64.

However, the local unit staged a smart rebound towards the fag-end to settle at 64.55, showing a gain of 9 paise, or 0.14 paise.

Political worries surrounding US President Donald Trump alongside uncertainty over the path of US monetary policy ahead of Federal Reserves' two-day meet kept forex market sentiment bit shaky, he added.

The resurgent rupee had suffered a major setback last week reeling under heightened US political uncertainty and crumbled to a fresh one-month low.

Emerging currency and financial markets worlwide were consumed and fraught with shaky US politics surrounding Trump and political turmoil in Brazil.

The rupee has regained some lost ground in last two straight sessions, strengthening by 29 paise after taking a battering on last Thursday.

Meanwhile, US dollar stabilised after a sell-off over the past week, as investors took stock of a week marked by political turmoil in the United States and a resurgent euro zone economy.

The greenback has been pressured by uproar over the US president sacking FBI Director James Comey.

Strong momentum of buying in domestic equities by foreign institutional investors in the midst of country's strong economic fundamentals along with abundant foreign exchange reserves predominantly helped the rupee to stay afloat.

Foreign funds bought local shares worth $460.52 million last week, according to provisional figures by stock exchanges.

Local equities staged a rebound led by frontline heavyweights along with firm buying in FMCG counters such as ITC and Hindustan Unilever largely supported by GST boost despite fag-end profit-taking.

The flagship Sensex jumped over 106 points to end at 30,570.97, while broader Nifty rebounded 10.35 points to settle at 9,438.25.

Meanwhile, country's forex reserves declined modestly after touching a record high previously by $443.6 million to $375.27 billion in the week to May 12.

The RBI fixed the reference rate for the dollar at 64.5632 and for the euro at 72.2333.

The dollar index, which tracks the US currency against a basket of six major rivals, was trading near six-month low at 96.83.

In cross-currency trades, the Indian unit recovered some lost ground against the pound sterling to end at 83.92 from 84.09 per pound and also bounced back against the Japanese Yen to finish at 57.93 per 100 yens from 58.03 earlier.

The home unit, however remained weak against the Euro to close at 72.52 as compared to 72.21.

In forward market today, premium for dollar continued to display subdued trend owing to sustained receivings from exporters.

The benchmark six-month premium payable in October declined to 134-135.5 paise from 138.5-140.5 paise and the far forward April 2018 contract also drifted to 282.5-284.5 paise from 290-292 paise on last Friday.

In the international commodity front, crude prices maintained its strong recovery momentum, bolstered by confidence that top exporters will this week agree to extend supply curbs.

The brent crude was up 50 cents at $54.11 a barrel in early Asian trade.