The rupee strengthened by 41 paise to 64.26 as the dollar fell to a two-week low against a basket of other currencies on Thursday after US President Donald Trump said that the currency was too strong and that he would prefer interest rates to stay low.
The greenback and US Treasury yields took a heavy hit after Trump told the Wall Street Journal that the dollar was "getting too strong" and would hurt the US economy.
According to forex dealers, a weak domestic equity market and weak macroeconomic data with retail inflation jumping to a 5-month high of 3.81 per cent in March and industrial output contracting by 1.2 per cent in February capped the rupee’s gain.
The rupee opened the session higher by 23 paise at 64.44 at the Interbank Foreign Exchange market today. It hovered in a range of 64.48 and 64.26 before quoting at 64.40, up 27 paise at 4.30 pm local time.
Yesterday, the rupee had ended lower by 17 paise to 64.67 against the US dollar with forex market sentiment taking a hit over growing geopolitical tensions at the global level.
The benchmark BSE index closed down by 182.03 points or 0.61 per cent at 29,461.45.