Mumbai: Indian rupee on Monday strengthened to hit near four-week high against the US dollar after the country’s trade deficit narrowed to a seven-month low.
Gains in the local equity and Asian currencies markets also helped the currency which gained for the sixth consecutive session, its longest winning streak since February.
The home currency closed at 64.72 against the dollar—a level last seen on 20 September, up 0.35% from its Friday’s close of 64.93. The rupee opened at 64.71 a dollar and touched a high of 64.69, a level last seen on 21 September.
India’s merchandise exports grew 25.7%, the fastest pace in six months in September to $28.60 billion, helping cut the trade deficit to a seven-month low to $8.90 billion, belying concerns that implementation of the goods and services tax from 1 July may blunt export competitiveness.
The BSE benchmark index rose 0.62%, or 200.95 points, to closed at 32,633.64. So far this year, the Sensex has gained over 22%. Sensex has gained 10 out of 12 trading sessions and surged nearly 4.73% or 1473.83 points in the same period.
The 10-year bond yield closed at 6.736% compared to its previous close of 6.734%. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.
So far this year, the rupee has gained 4.61%, while foreign institutional investors have bought $5.07 billion and $21.65 billion in equity and debt, respectively.
Asian currencies were trading higher. Philippines peso was up 0.32%, Indonesian rupiah 0.16%, Malaysian ringgit 0.11%, South Korean won 0.11%, Japanese yen 0.06%. However, Singapore dollar was down 0.18%, China renminbi 0.16%, China offshore 0.14%.
Source: livemint.com