Rupee rises for 5th straight session, ends at 66.35 Vs USD

Mumbai: The rupee continued to rule firm against the American currency for the fifth straight session Monday and ended higher by 5 paise at 66.35 on persistent selling of dollars by banks and exporters amid recovery in equities.

The domestic unit resumed higher at 66.35 per dollar as against last Friday's level of 66.40 at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market.

It moved in a range of 66.26 and 66.36 per dollar during the day before ending at 66.35, showing a further gain of 5 paise or 0.08 percent.

The rupee has gained 74 paise or 1.10 percent in five days.

The dollar index was up by 0.07 percent against the the basket of six currencies in the late afternoon trade.

At overseas, the dollar drifted lower in light Asian trading early today amid doubts about how far and fast the Federal Reserve would raise US interest rates next year.

Oil prices resumed their slide in Asia as a spurt in the number of US oil rigs in use and the prospect of renewed crude exports from the country compounded a global oversupply.

However, the dollar was almost flat against the yen in quiet, rangebound late Asia trade today, with gains capped after the Bank of Japan disappointed the market with its steps to complement its existing easing programme.

Pramit Brahmbhatt, Veracity Group CEO, said, "The rupee closed on a positive note at 66.35 levels gaining five paisa. Today lndian benchmark index NIFTY gained 72 points on back of continuous buying throughout the day.

Trading range for the spot USD/INR pair is expected to be within 66 to 66.75 range.

Meanwhile, the benchmark Sensex recovered by 216.68 points or 0.85 percent to 25,735.90.

In forward market today, premium for dollar witnessed steady to better trend in view of uneven demand and supply transactions.

The benchmark six-month premium payable in May ended steady at 187-189 paise and far forward November 2016 contract firmed up to 398.5-400.5 paise from 396-398 paise on last Friday.

The RBI fixed the reference rate for the dollar at 66.3240 and for the euro at 72.1340.

In cross-currency trades, the rupee recovered against the pound sterling to end at 98.82 from the last Friday's level of 99.15 and also recouped against the Japanese currency to settle at 54.65 from previous close of 54.73 per 100 yen.

However, it fell against the euro to 72.12 per euro from 71.90 previously.