The rupee ended at 64.46 a dollar, up 0.18% from its Thursday’s close of 64.57

The Indian rupee on Friday strengthened against the US dollar after local equity markets gained for second sessions.

The home currency ended at 64.46 a dollar, up 0.18% from its Thursday’s close of 64.57. The rupee opened at 64.55 a dollar and touched a high and a low of 64.45 and 64.59, respectively.

The benchmark Sensex rose 0.91%, or 301.09 points, to 33,250.30. So far this year, it has gained 26%. Local equity markets gained over 2%, or 600 points, in last two trading sessions.

Bond yield closed fresh 15-month high. The 10-year bond yield ended at 7.09%—a level last seen on 6 September 2016, compared to its previous close of 7.055%. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.

So far this year, the rupee has gained 5.28%, while foreign institutional investors have bought $8.36 billion and $22.92 billion in equity and debt, respectively.

Asian currencies were trading mixed ahead of non-payroll data due later today. Philippines peso was up 0.18%, South Korean won 0.09%, Taiwan dollar 0.07%, Indonesian rupiah 0.04%. However, Japanese yen was down 0.4%, Thai baht 0.15%, Singapore dollar 0.15%, China Oooffshore 0.07%.

The dollar index, which measures the US currency’s strength against major currencies, was trading at 94.004, up 0.23%, from its previous close of 93.795.

source: livemint.com