Rupee rises to over 2-month high, close at 61.71/$

Mumbai: The rupee today jumped by 16 paise to end at over two-month high of 61.71 against the greenback on good inflows in local markets and sustained dollar sales by exporters, extending its winning trend to third straight day. [caption id=“attachment_2014305” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  AFP Image[/caption]A weak dollar overseas also boosted the sentiment in favour of the rupee here as the dollar index was down 0.15 percent against major rivals, forex traders said. At the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market, the domestic unit resumed strong at 61.60 a dollar from previous close of 61.87 and immediately touched a high of 61.58. Later, it met with resistance and fell back to a low of 61.79. The rupee settled at 61.71, exhibiting a rise of 16 paise or 0.26 percent. In straight three sessions, it has shot up by 51 paise or 0.82 percent. Monday’s closing of 61.71 is the rupee’s strongest level at close since 61.55 on 13 November 2014. Veracity Group, CEO, Pramit Brahmbhatt, said: “Overseas investors continued to pour money into the debt market and some banks were also seen selling dollars in the market which helped the rupee to trade strong against the US dollar.” The stocks benchmark S&P BSE Sensex today improved further by 140.12 points, or 0.50 percent. FPIs infused worth $197.01 million on Friday, as per Sebi data. “The trading range for the spot USD/INR pair is expected to be within 61.20 to 62.20,” Brahmbhatt added. Meanwhile, premia closed steady to better. The benchmark six-month premium payable in June ended at its previous closing level of 199.5-201.5 paise while premium on forward contracts maturing in December finished a tad higher at 396-398 paise from 395-397 paise. The Reserve Bank of India fixed the reference rate for dollar at 61.6990 and for Euro at 71.3302. The rupee strengthened against the pound to 93.53 from last Friday’s close of 94.07 and also hardened to 52.60 per 100 Japanese yen from 53.02. However, rose further to 71.53 per euro from 71.66 last weekend. PTI