Rupee logs six-week peak of 60.29 vs US dollar, up 10 paise

Mumbai: The Indian rupee today appreciated by ten paise to end at a nearly six-week high of 60.29 against the Greenback tracking a solid rally in local shares and continued dollar selling by exporters and some banks.

Good inflows also helped the rupee even as the widely tracked dollar index was up 0.10 per cent against six major global rivals, forex dealers said.

At the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market, the domestic unit commenced strong at 60.29 a dollar from last Friday’s close of 60.39.

Rupee traded in a narrow range of 60.19 and 60.31, before concluding at its opening level of 60.29 – a rise of ten paise or 0.17 per cent. This is the strongest level since the the rupee had settled at 60.06 on July 30, 2014.

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In forwards market today, premium continued to close narrowly mixed in recent few days.

The benchmark six-month premium payable in February edged down to 242-244 paise from 242.5-244.5 paise previously while far-forward contracts maturing in August, 2015 rose further to 498-500 paise from 495.5-497.5 paise.

The Reserve Bank of India fixed the reference rate for dollar at 60.2628 and for the euro at 77.9439.

The rupee bounced back with vengeance against the pound to 97.25 from last weekend’s close of 98.48 and also recovered to 78.08 per euro crom 78.26.

It, however, remained firm to 57.29 per 100 Japanese yen from 57.41 previously.

PTI