Rupee on Thursday opened 20 paise higher against the US dollar ahead of budget 2019 and US Fed’s indication that monetary policy tightening nears an end. Rupee opened the day at 70.92 and hit a high and a low of 70.86 and 70.94 a dollar, respectively. The domestic currency closed at 71.12 against the greenback Wednesday.
Currency experts expect that the fiscal deficit figure for December would decide the rupee movement going ahead. The upcoming budget will hold a major impact on the domestic currency, they added.
PTI reported forex traders saying that the fresh foreign fund inflows and positive opening in domestic equities supported the rupee up move, while surging crude oil prices restricted the uptrend.
Yesterday, the Fed kept the interest rates steady as it shunned the talks of “further gradual increases” in rates.
Meanwhile, the 30-share index was trading 213.32 points, or 0.60 per cent, higher at 35,804.57. Similarly, the 50-share NSE Nifty jumped 53.95 points, or 0.51 per cent, to 10,705.75.
On Wednesday, the Sensex ended marginally lower by 1.25 points and the Nifty closed with a negligible loss of 0.4 point.