Rupee closes up 0.02% against US dollar

Mumbai: The rupee strengthened against the US dollar. Rupee closed at 66.68 against the US dollar, up 0.02% from its previous close of 66.70. The home currency opened at 66.74 a dollar and touched a high of 66.68 and a low of 66.87.

India’s benchmark Sensex index closed at 28,061.14 points, down 0.16% from its previous close.

The benchmark 10-year government bond yield closed at 6.735% compared to Thursday’s close of 6.696%. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.

The rupee is down 0.80% till date this year, while foreign institutional investors have bought $7.70 billion in equity and sold $158.10 million in debt markets.

Most Asian currencies were trading lower. South Korean won was down 0.326%, Malaysian ringgit 0.229%, Singapore dollar lost 0.189%, Taiwan dollar fell 0.165%, Thai baht lost 0.129%, China renminbi 0.069%, China Offshore 0.025%, Indonesian rupiah 0.015% and Hong Kong Dollar lost 0.012%. However, Japanese yen was up 0.270% and Philippines peso 0.056%.

The dollar index, which measures the US currency’s strength against major currencies, was trading at 97.002, up 0.24% from its previous close of 96.765.