The rupee logged its biggest gain in about one-and-a-half month as it strengthened 71 paise on Monday to close at 62.40 against the dollar due to inflows in the debt market and a weaker American currency. The dollar fell to its weakest level in more than a week following comments by Janet Yellen, US Federal Reserve’s next chief, that she will continue the $85 billion-a-month monetary stimulus programme. This boosted all Asian currencies. “The rupee continued to trade stronger after Yellen’s comments. Also, there were larger flows into the debt market on account of purchase of securities to the tune of Rs 6,156.74 crore by RBI through open market operations (OMOs). This created hopes of continued dollar inflows into the market,” a dealer said. The domestic unit opened stronger at 62.85, against the previous close of 63.11 on Thursday. The currency and equity markets were closed Friday. Intra-day, the unit moved in the range of 62.39 to 62.92 per dollar. The rupee also surged due to the 451-point (2.21 per cent) gain in the equity markets with BSE’s benchmark Sensex closing at 20,851 points on Monday. Market players will look for cues from the US Fed chief Ben Bernanke’s speech on Tuesday regarding tapering of the monetary stimulus programme. Bank officials believe the Indian currency will broadly trade in the range of 62.50-64 range in November.
Call rates, G-secs end flat
The overnight call money rate, the rate at which banks borrow short-term funds from each other, ended flat from Friday’s close of 8.70 per cent. The yield on the 10-year benchmark bond, 7.16 per cent maturing in 2023, also remained flat at 9.02 per cent.