Rupee jumps 33 paise to close at 66.22 vs USD

Investors have witnessed rapidly changing risk sentiment since the beginning of the week, when demand for the yen increased as a safe haven after major global oil producers failed to agree to a production freeze Sunday.

Rising for the second straight day, the rupee on Wednesday advanced by another 33 paise to close at 66.22 on sustained selling of US dollars by banks and exporters in view of weaker American currency in the overseas market.

Persistent foreign capital inflows also boosted the rupee value against the dollar, a forex dealer said.

The rupee resumed higher at 66.27 as against the Monday's level of 66.55 at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market and hovered in a range of 66.35 and 66.10 per dollar before finishing at 66.22, showing a gain of 33 paise or 0.50 per cent.

The rupee has gained by 42 paise or 0.63 per cent in two days.

Meanwhile, the RBI fixed the reference rate for the dollar at 66.2406 and euro at 75.2758.

In cross-currency trades, the rupee dropped against the pound sterling to close at 95.22 from 94.33 on Monday.

It also moved down against the euro to 75.30 per euro from 75.26 per euro previously.

However, the domestic currency recovered against the yen to 60.64 per 100 yens from 61.49 previously.

The dollar index was down 0.09 per cent against a basket of six currencies in the late afternoon trade.

The dollar was trading lower against the yen in the global market today, as investors bought into the perceived safety of the Japanese currency following weakness in Asian stock markets and oil prices.

Investors have witnessed rapidly changing risk sentiment since the beginning of the week, when demand for the yen increased as a safe haven after major global oil producers failed to agree to a production freeze Sunday.

In New York, the US dollar hit 10-month low against some currencies on a growing appetite for risky assets and lost further ground to the euro after weak US economic data reinforced views that Federal Reserve monetary policy would remain dovish.

Pramit Brahmbhatt of Veracity Financial Services said, "As expected the rupee opened on a positive note well above close of previous trading session, thus by depreciating USD. Since opening trades we saw the rupee appreciating for the whole day. Thus the rupee appreciated 33 paise and closed at 66.22/USD for the day. Trading range for the spot USD/INR pair is expected to be within 66 to 66.80/USD."

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) and foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 977.98 crore on Monday, as per provisional data released by the stock exchanges.

The benchmark Sensex moved up further by 27.82 points or 0.11 per cent today to close at 25,844.18.

In forward market, premium for dollar declined further on sustained receivings from exporters.

The benchmark six-month premium for September eased further to 194-196 from 194.5-196 paise on Monday and far forward March 2017 contract also moved down to 389-391 paise from 391.75-392.50 paise previously.