Mumbai, April 13 (PTI): The rupee today staged a smart rebound and closed 26 paise higher at 64.41 against the US dollar on account of fresh selling of the American currency by exporters as also helped by weakness in greenback overseas.
In the global market, the dollar remained under pressure in early trade today, with US President Donald Trump stating that he prefers a weaker US currency, hurting investing appetite for the greenback. The rupee opened higher at 64.45 as against yesterday’s closing level of 64.67 per dollar at the Interbank Foreign Exchange market here today.
Later, it advanced to 64.26 on good bouts of dollar selling from banks before ending at 64.41, showing a gain of 26 paise or 0.40 per cent. The domestic currency hovered between 64.26 and 64.48 per dollar during the day. The RBI, meanwhile, fixed the reference rate for the dollar at 64.3165 and for the euro at 68.6193. The dollar index, which tracks the US currency against a basket of six major rivals, was trading lower by 0.45 per cent to 100.33. In cross-currency trade, the Indian unit firmed up against the pound sterling and finished at 80.71 from 80.82 per pound and advanced further against the euro to settle at 68.47 compared to 68.54 earlier.
However, it drifted against the Japanese Yen to end at 59.02 per 100 yens from 58.97 yesterday.
In an interview with Wall Street Journal, Trump said the dollar “is getting too strong” and that he would prefer if the Federal Reserve kept interest rates low.
His comments appeared to have the desired effect, immediately sending the dollar lower, to trade around a five-month low against the yen. In the forward market today, premium for dollar inched up on mild payments from corporates.
Meanwhile, the benchmark Sensex dropped further by 182.03 points or 0.61 per cent to close at 29,461.45.
