In early Friday trade the rupee climbed 17 paise to 86.19 against the US dollar as positive domestic equities and fresh foreign fund inflows boosted the local currency. The local currency opened at 86.26 then moved higher to 86.19 at the interbank foreign exchange market.
Forex analysts pointed out that the rupee has been on the upward trend as foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) have become buyers of Indian assets for the second time this week, putting their money in equities and debt. On Thursday, the rupee had gained one paisa to settle at 86.36 against the greenback.
According to CR Forex Advisors MD Amit Pabari, the Indian rupee has been influenced by the policies of the US Federal Reserve and has also been benefiting from strong foreign institutional investor (FII) flows. Foreign institutional investors (FII) had on Thursday bought Indian equities worth ₹3,239.14 crore after having been on the selling side for a number of sessions. Moreover, foreign investors have pumped in more than ₹5,500 crore in the debt markets as they found India’s real yield of 3.028% attractive.
However, the US dollar index which measures the strength of the greenback against six major currencies was at 103.98, up by 0.13 per cent. Brent crude, the international oil benchmark, traded 0.44 per cent higher at $72.32 per barrel in futures trade.
The BSE Sensex rose 158.79 points (0.21%) to 76,506.85, as the domestic equity market opened on Friday. The Nifty also opened on a positive note and touched 23,265.05, gaining 74.40 points (0.32%).
Analysts are of the opinion that the USD-INR range may continue between 86.00 and 86.80 in the near future, with a possible reversal towards 86.50-86.60 due to the prevailing global economic conditions.
