Mumbai: The rupee on Friday was trading higher against the US dollar, tracking gains in the Asian currencies markets.

At 2pm, the rupee was trading at 63.94 a dollar, up 0.15% from its Thursday’s close of 64.05. The rupee opened at 63.84 a dollar and touched a high of 63.80, a level last seen on 9 August.

Gains in the Asian currencies also helped the rupee as dollar weakened to fresh two-and-half-year lows on worries over the US economic fallout from Hurricane Irma and after European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi failed to jawbone the euro lower at Thursday’s policy meeting, Bloomberg reported.

Malaysian ringgit was up 0.67%, China renminbi 0.57%, Indonesian rupiah 0.54%, China offshore 0.51%, South Korean won 0.3%, Philippines peso 0.29%, Japanese yen 0.27%, Taiwan dollar 0.26%, Singapore dollar 0.16%, Hong Kong dollar 0.12% and Thai baht rose 0.11%.

The 10-year bond yield was at 6.518% compared to its previous close of 6.515%. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.

The benchmark Sensex index rose 0.05% or 16.32 points to 31,679.06. So far this year, it has risen over 19%.

So far this year, the rupee has gained 6%, while foreign institutional investors bought $6.68 billion and $20.17 billion in equity and debt, respectively.

The dollar index, which measures the US currency’s strength against major currencies, was trading at 91.201, down 0.51% from its previous close of 91.66.

Source:livemint.com