Rupee logs 4th straight gains, spurts 27 paise to 70.94 against dollar on softening crude oil prices

Mumbai: The Indian rupee continued its winning run for fourth session in a row, soaring 27 paise to settle at 70.94 to the US dollar as softening crude oil prices lifted forex market sentiments.

#Rupee ends at highest level against #dollar since December 13.

6.45% 2029 #bonds end down 43 paise at Rs 99; yield at 6.59%.#Bond #yields #currency #RupeeDollarPair #MintStreet pic.twitter.com/kKQQtyIhnZ

— CNBC-TV18 (@CNBCTV18Live) January 10, 2020

After opening marginally lower, the rupee staged a significant recovery and went on to hit a high of 70.86 against the American unit. It, however, settled at 70.94, showing a gain of 27 paise. In the last four trading sessions, the domestic currency has gained 99 paise against the US dollar. [caption id=“attachment_5114261” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters.[/caption] On a weekly basis, the rupee gained 86 paise or 1.19 percent. The dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, rose 0.12 percent to 97.57. Meanwhile, the country’s foreign exchange reserves touched a record high of $461.157 billion, after it surged by $3.689 billion in the week to 3 January, according to RBI data. In a boost for global market sentiment, investors are now turning their focus to other key factors including developments around the US-China trade deal after a week of tense situation in the Middle East. The possibility of a wider military conflict between Iran and the US seems to be fading as both sides have toned down their war rhetoric. The global crude benchmark Brent was trading lower by 0.03 percent at $65.30 per barrel. “On back of softening crude prices and moreover FII’s inflows coming strong…risky assets are favoured on back of US-Iran geopolitical tension easing. The levels of 71.30-71.45 shall keep acting as a crucial barrier for USDINR pair whereas 71.00-70.85 as supports in coming sessions,“said Jateen Trivedi, Senior Research Analyst (Commodity & Currency) at LKP Securities. The 10-year government bond yield was at 6.59 percent. Meanwhile, foreign investors bought equities worth Rs 578.28 crore on a net basis on Friday, provisional data showed. On the equities front, the BSE Sensex ended 147.37 points, or 0.36 per cent, higher at 41,599.72. The NSE Nifty scaled a fresh intra-day record of 12,311.20, before ending 40.90 points, or 0.33 per cent, up at 12,256.80.