The rupee closed 25 paise higher against the dollar, at 55.52, on Monday from its previous close on strong FII inflows and dollar selling by foreign banks and exporters.
The Indian unit, which opened higher at 55.35 per dollar on positive US jobs data released on Friday, touched an intra-day high of 55.24/dollar.
However, the rupee failed to sustain the early gains due to mild dollar buying to hit the day’s low of 55.65. Healthy FII flows into the equity markets, with the BSE Sensex closing up by 215 points, also helped to strengthen the rupee in the second session.
The rupee also rose on reform hopes, triggered by positive comments by the new Finance Minister that he would shortly unveil a path of fiscal consolidation.
Call rates flat; bonds end higher
The overnight call rates ended flat at 8 per cent. Intra-day, the call money market moved in the 7.95-8.05 per cent range.
The 8.15 per cent government bond that matures in 2022 had closed higher at Rs 99.50 (yield: 8.22 per cent) from its previous close of Rs 99.28 (yield: 8.25 per cent) on Friday.