Rupee opens at 66.43 per dollar, hits two-month high.

Mumbai: The Indian rupee on Thursday strengthened for the third consecutive session, hitting a fresh two-month high against the US dollar in opening trade, tracking the gains in the local equity and Asian currencies markets.

The home currency opened at 66.43 against the US dollar and touched a high of 66.34, a level last seen on 7 September. At 9.15am, the rupee was trading at 66.37 a dollar, up 0.12% from its previous close of 66.44. So far this year, it fell 0.38%.

India’s benchmark Sensex index was trading at 27,605.05 points, up 1.29% or 352.52 points from its previous close. So far this year, it has gained 5.6%.

The government will issue Index of Industrial Production (IIP) data for the month of September on 11 November. According to Bloomberg estimates, IIP will be at 1% in September against -0.7% a month ago.

The government will also issue Wholesale Price Inflation (WPI) and Consumer Price Inflation (CPI) data for October on 15 November. According to Bloomberg estimates, WPI will be at 3.69% in October against 3.57% a month ago. CPI will be at 4.12% against 4.31% a month ago.

Asian currencies were trading higher. Japanese yen was up 0.49%, China offshore 0.34%, Indonesian rupiah 0.17%, Philippines peso 0.14% and Singapore dollar 0.08%. However, Malaysian ringgit was down 0.29%, Taiwan dollar 0.22% and Thai baht 0.06%.

The benchmark 10-year government bond yield was trading at 6.688%, compared to Wednesday’s close of 6.668%. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) have sold $592 million in debt and bought $6.82 billion in equity till date this year.

The dollar index, which measures the US currency’s strength against major currencies, was trading at 98.375, down 0.14% from its previous close of 98.504.

Source : livemint.com