Rupee rises 23 paise to 70.02 against US Dollar

The rupee rebounded by 23 paise to close at 70.02 against the US dollar on Friday after Brent crude oil prices receded from a six-month high of USD 75.60/barrel. Forex traders said the greenback's weakness against key rivals overseas, sustained foreign fund inflows and heavy buying in domestic equities also supported the rupee upmove.

At the interbank foreign exchange market, the domestic unit opened at 70.12 and advanced to a high of 69.97 during the day. It finally settled at 70.02, registering a rise of 23 paise against the dollar over its previous close. The rupee on Thursday had slumped 39 paise to close at more than six-week low of 70.25 against the US dollar.

"Indian rupee recovered Thursday's loss after Brent crude oil prices recedes from a six-month high of USD 75.60/barrel," VK Sharma, Head PCG & Capital Markets Strategy, HDFC Securities said adding that since start of the April the correlation between Brent crude oil and USD/INR steadily rising.

On a weekly basis, the domestic currency saw a 67 paise decline. Sharma further said that "along with overseas fund inflows, profit booking in broad dollar supported rupee to strength in today's session".

The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, slipped 0.08 per cent to 98.12. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net buyers in the capital markets on Thursday, putting in Rs 3,785 crore.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, fell 2 per cent to trade at USD 72.86 per barrel. The BSE Sensex rallied 336 points to reclaim the 39,000 mark on Friday. The Sensex settled 0.87 per cent higher at 39,067.33. The NSE Nifty too ended 112.85 points, or 0.97 per cent, up at 11,754.65.

Meanwhile, Financial Benchmark India Private Ltd (FBIL) set the reference rate for the rupee/dollar at 70.1445 and for rupee/euro at 78.1283. The reference rate for rupee/British pound was fixed at 90.5322 and for rupee/100 Japanese yen at 62.80.