Rupee strengthens marginally against US dollar on Asian cues

The Indian rupee on Thursday strengthened marginally against the US dollar, tracking gains in the local equity and Asian currencies markets.

The rupee opened at 64.85 a dollar. At 9.15am, the home currency was trading at 64.81 a dollar, up 0.13% from its Wednesday’s close of 64.93.

The local equity markets were trading higher for the sixth consecutive session and gained over 750 points, or 2.3%, in this period. The benchmark Sensex rose 0.25%, or 82.55 points, to 33,644.10. So far this year, it has gained 25.73%.

The 10-year bond yield was at 6.946%, compared to its previous close of 6.958%. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.

So far this year, the rupee has gained 4.6%, while foreign institutional investors have bought $8.17 billion and $22.69 billion in equity and debt, respectively.

Asian currencies were trading higher as dollar weakened on the latest US Federal Reserve minutes, which showed some policy makers expressing concern over low inflation.

China renminbi was up 0.27%, while Indonesian rupiah, Malaysian ringgit and China offshore rose 0.07% each. However, Japanese yen was down 0.13% and Taiwan dollar 0.11%.

The dollar index, which measures the US currency’s strength against major currencies, was trading at 93.21, down 0.01% from its previous close of 93.220.