Rupee holds at 1-week high against Dollar, stocks break records

The rupee on Friday climbed to a two-week high of 68.53 before closing almost flat at 68.65 against the US currency in a roller coaster trading session even as stocks continued their bullish ascent.

The rupee gained just one paisa to end at a fresh one-week high of 68.65 at interbank foreign exchange market here as month-end dollar demand from oil importers trimmed its early sharp gains.

The rupee oscillated between a high of 68.53 and a low of 68.76 in day trade.

Expectations of buoyant capital inflows along with likely initial public offering-related inflows predominantly outweighed impact of broad overnight dollar gains, helping the rupee touch a two-week high in early trade.

However, the greenback’s gains against some currencies overseas and dollar buying by importers, mainly oil refiners to meet their month-end requirements kept rupee under little pressure and capped the rise.

Moreover, currency traders and speculators also avoided taking any positions ahead of weekend and the much-awaited two-day RBI policy meet next week.

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Meanwhile, the bulls continued to dominate stocks for the fifth-straight trading day with the benchmark Sensex surging over 352 points to close above the 37,000-mark for the first time, while the broader NSE Nifty too breached the 11,200-level.

On the energy front, crude prices edged lower in quiet trading after three days of gains but took support from Saudi Arabia halting crude transport through a key shipping lane.

The benchmark Brent for September settlement was trading higher at USD 74.56 a barrel in early Asian trade.

The local currency opened flat with positive bias at 68.65 against overnight close 68.66 at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (forex) market.

It later strengthened to hit a high of 68.53 on sustained dollar selling by exporters and banks before giving back some early gains to end almost flat at 68.65, showing a mere gain of one paise.

For the week, the domestic currency recovered by 19 paise against the Dollar.

The Financial Benchmarks India Private Limited (FBIL), meanwhile, fixed the reference rate for the dollar at 68.7041 and for the euro at 79.9821.

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The bond market endured fresh selling and the 10-year benchmark yield ended higher at 7.78 per cent.

Globally, the US dollar fell against the major currencies after data showed the US economy grew at the fastest pace in almost four years but did not quell fears that tariff war could hurt the momentum.  The dollar index dropped 0.10 per cent to 94.68 against a basket of six currencies from its early level of 94.91.

In the cross-currency trade, the rupee hardened against the pound sterling to finish at 89.94 per pound from 90.48 and strengthened against the euro to end at 79.82 compared to 80.42 yesterday.

The local currency also rebounded against the Japanese yen to close at 61.77 per 100 yens from 61.96 earlier.

In forward market today, premium for dollar edged lower due to mild receiving from exporters.

The benchmark six-month forward premium payable in November softened to 99-101 paise from 100-102 paise, while the far-forward May 2019 contract was held steady at 251-253 paise.