BackRupee cuts gains as dollar rises vs yen
Rupee cuts gains as dollar rises vs yen
PremiumMumbai: The rupee gave up early gains on Thursday as the dollar strengthened against the yen, and demand for the US currency from refiners offset a second successive day of rise for local shares.
The partially convertible rupee ended at 45.62/63 per dollar, off the day’s peak of 45.43 and weaker than Wednesday’s 45.6050/6150. It hit a low of 45.67 during trade.
On Monday, the rupee had risen to 45.2850, its strongest since 22 September 2008.
“The dollar’s strength against the yen sent importers and oil companies into a spree to buy more and more dollars," said a senior dealer with a foreign bank.
Oil is India’s biggest import and refiners are the largest buyers of dollars in the local currency market.
The yen fell against the dollar ahead of data on US retail sales and weekly jobless claims figures, which would provide cues on recovery in the world’s largest economy. The dollar index against six major currencies edged up 0.1%.
The rupee rose in early trade tracking higher local shares. The BSE benchmark Sensex ended up 0.4%, supported by gains in global markets.
Foreign investors bought more than $17 billion of Indian shares in 2009 and are net buyers of nearly $1.7 billion this month.
One-month offshore non-deliverable forward contracts was at 45.63/67, slightly weaker than the onshore spot rate.
In the currency futures market, the most traded near-month contracts on the National Stock Exchange and MCX-SX were quoting at 45.6550 and 45.6575 respectively.
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