Rupee rises to 2-week high

The rupee on Friday breached the 60-mark against dollar again in intra-day trades on the back of heavy dollar demand by oil importers. However, during afternoon trades it recovered a tad and ended the day stronger by 5 paise at Rs 59.63 per dollar.

The local currency had opened at Rs 59.76 and traded in a range of Rs 59.61 to Rs 60.17. It had closed at Rs 59.68 on Thursday. According to currency dealers, dollar sale by state-run banks on behalf of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) helped the recovery of the rupee.

The rupee breaching the Rs 60 mark took a toll on the bond market as the yield on the 10-year benchmark bond 7.16 per cent 2023 ended at 7.54 per cent on Friday compared to previous close of 7.47 per cent.

RBI data released on Friday showed that in the week ending July 5 total reserves fell by $ 4.5 billion to $ 280.2 billion. During the week foreign currency fell by $ 3.2 billion to $ 252.1 billion.

It may be noted that the apex bank had called a meeting with Oil marketing Companies (OMCs) on Monday to explore the possibility of dollar sales to OMCs directly. However, according to currency dealers the discussion is yet to react a firm conclusion.