Rupee strengthens past 67 per dollar in early trade.

Mumbai: The rupee on Thursday rebounded sharply from its record lows, jumping 2.97% to strengthen past the 67 per dollar mark in early trade. The Indian currency was bolstered after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) offered a special dollar window to oil marketing companies. Bond yields eased marginally.

Strength in global markets, too, aided rupee’s recovery.

The rupee opened at 67.21 per dollar, and soon moved to 66.84, from its Wednesday’s close of 68.83.

At 9.26am, the local currency was trading at 67.33 per dollar, up 2.22%, while India’s benchmark Sensex was trading at 18,067.14 points, up 0.39%.

The rupee touched its all time low of 68.85 on Wednesday, marking its biggest single-day decline in 20 years.
Bond yields eased, with India’s 10-year benchmark bond yield easing to 8.78% from 8.96% on Wednesday. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.

On Wednesday, RBI said it will sell the US currency to Indian Oil Corp. Ltd, Bharat Petroleum Corp. Ltd and Hindustan Petroleum Corp. Ltd, which the central bank will repurchase after a specified period.

The measure, effective immediately, will extend until further notice and will be available to the companies through a designated bank, RBI said.

Source : livemint.com