Rupee closes higher against US dollar

Mumbai: The rupee on Friday strengthened for the fourth consecutive session and hit a two-week high against the US dollar after foreign institutional investors (FIIs) continued to buy in local equity markets. Traders are cautious ahead of the US payroll data due later on Friday.

The home currency closed at 66.83 per dollar—a level last seen on 18 August, up 0.2% from its previous close of 66.96. The rupee opened at 66.83 per dollar and touched a high of 66.81, a level last seen on 18 August.

Since 1 March till date, FIIs have bought $8.98 billion in local equity markets, while the Sensex gained 23.5% in this period.

India’s benchmark Sensex index rose 108.63 points, or 0.38%, to close at 28,532.11. So far this year, it has gained 9.25%.

The 10-year bond yield closed at 7.118% compared with its Thursday’s close of 7.121%. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.

The rupee is down 1.2% till date this year, while FIIs have bought $6.11 billion in equity and sold $1.33 billion in debt markets.

Asian currencies closed mixed as investors waited to see if the US jobs data could prod the Federal Reserve into raising interest rates as early as this month.

The South Korean won was up 0.43%, Taiwanese dollar 0.21%, Indonesian rupiah 0.17%, Philippines peso 0.14%. However, the Japanese yen fell 0.33%, Malaysian ringgit 0.24%, Chinese offshore 0.1%, Chinese renminbi 0.1% and Thai baht 0.06%.

The dollar index, which measures the US currency’s strength against major currencies, was trading at 95.787, up 0.14% from its previous close of 95.653.

Friday’s US jobs report is expected to show employers added 180,000 jobs in August, according to the median estimate of 89 economists polled by Reuters.