The rupee strengthened to 61.40 against the dollar at close in the final hour of trading after news agency Reuters, quoting an anonymous source in Finance Ministry, said that the Government is looking to include its bonds on global benchmark indices. The currency unit opened weaker at 62.15 and then fell to 62.29 in intra-day trade. It had closed at 61.88 on Wednesday. “The trigger (for the gain) was the news that the government is in talks with JP Morgan to include the Government of India bonds in the emerging market indices,” a chief dealer of a public sector bank said. This will help bring more dollars into the Indian debt market, he said. “If rupee manages to close below 61.40 levels on a weekly basis then we can see further gains, otherwise we expect the market to be in the range of 61.50 to 63.20 levels,” said Abhishek Goenka, Founder & CEO, India Forex Advisors.

Call Rates, G-Sec

The inter-bank call money rate, the rate at which banks borrow from each other to meet their short-term fund requirements, closed slightly lower at 8.95 per cent against the previous close of 9 per cent. The 7.16 per cent government security, which matures in 2023, ended higher at Rs 91.79 against the previous close of Rs 91.57. The yields softened to 8.42 per cent from previous close of 8.45 per cent. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.

Related Topics