Rupee logs first gain in four days, recovers 25 paise against dollar

The Indian rupee on Friday staged a strong comeback by regaining 25 paise to 69.35 against the US dollar after three sessions of losses amid sustained foreign fund inflows.

On a weekly basis, the domestic currency saw a 18 paise decline.

At the Interbank Foreign Exchange (forex) market, the domestic unit opened at 69.48. The local unit moved in a range of 69.61 to 69.33 before finally ending at 69.35, a rise of 25 paise over its previous close.

The rupee had lost 18 paise to close at 69.60 to the US dollar on Tuesday. Currency market was shut on Wednesday on account of “Mahavir Jayanti”. The dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, rose 0.30 per cent to 97.29.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, was trading higher by 0.36 per cent at USD 71.88 per barrel. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) remained net buyers in the capital markets, putting in Rs 1,038.46 crore on Thursday, as per provisional data.

Equity benchmark Sensex retreated from its lifetime high to close 135 points lower Thursday. After rising to an intra-day record of 39,487.45 points, the 30-share index turned negative to settle 135.36 points, or 0.34 per cent, lower at 39,140.28. The broader NSE Nifty slipped 34.35 points, or 0.29 per cent, to 11,752.80.

Meanwhile, Financial Benchmark India Private Ltd (FBIL) set the reference rate for the rupee/dollar at 69.4189 and for rupee/euro at 78.4341. The reference rate for rupee/British pound was fixed at 90.5519 and for rupee/100 Japanese yen at 62.04.

Forex market will remain closed on Friday on account of ‘Good Friday’.