Rupee nears 1-month high, soars 27 paise to 67.36 against US dollar

Mumbai: Stretching its resurgent trend for the third straight day, the rupee on Thursday ended at a near one- month high of 67.36, rising 27 paise against the US currency due to continuous dollar selling from exporters and banks.

Strong gains in the local equities and subdued dollar trend against other Asian currencies further amplified the upmove.

Unwinding of long dollar positions by speculative traders in the face of good capital inflows also weighed on the sentiment.

Meanwhile, domestic bourses staged a spectacular comeback on frantic broad-based buying spree energised by another record close on Wall Street and expectations that the ECB may extend the deadline for its asset-purchase stimulus programme.

At the Interbank Foreign Exchange (forex) market, the local currency resumed on a firm footing at 67.63 as against overnight closing value of 67.63.

Maintaining its strong edge, the home currency touched a intra-day high of 67.32 in late afternoon deals before ending at 67.36, revealing a smart rise of 27 paise, or 0.40 percent. The domestic currency had seen this level last on November 11.

The Indian currency has appreciated by a whopping 140 paise after plunging to fresh 2016 low on November 28.

In global trade, the American currency moved lower against the other major rivals even as traders awaited the European Central Bank's monetary policy decision.

The US dollar index was quoted lower - its 3-week low at 99.94 in late afternoon trade.

Meanwhile, the RBI today fixed the reference rate for the dollar at 67.4325 and euro at 72.6113.

In cross-currency trades, the rupee retreated against the pound sterling to close at 85.43 from 85.22 and fell back against the Japanese yen to finish at 59.42 from 59.28 per 100 yens on Wednesday.

The home currency also drifted against the euro to settle at 72.68 from 72.49 earlier.

In the forward market, premium for dollar firmed up owing to sustained paying pressure from corporates.

The benchmark six-month premium for May edged higher to 139-141 paise from 136-138 paise and the far-forward November 2017 contract also rose to 288-290 from 282-294 paise yesterday.

Meanwhile, the flagship Sensex shot up by a whopping 457.41 points to end at 26,694.28, while broader Nifty surged 144.80 points to 8,246.85.

On the global commodity trade, crude prices traded little changed and continued to consolidate its recent gains amid doubts over the proposed OPEC production cut deal would be sufficient to balance the market.