The rupee today went past its three-month high to 66.91 against the dollar due to sustained selling of the American currency by exporters and banks.
On November 10 last year, the rupee had closed at 66.63 against the dollar.
Forex dealers said that besides increased selling of the American currency by exporters as well as banks, a firm domestic equity market supported the rupee.
They said, however, the dollar’s strength against other currencies overseas, capped the gains.
The domestic unit opened strong at 67.07 at the Interbank Foreign Exchange market today. It hovered in a range of 67.07 and 66.91 before quoting at 66.92, up 27 paise at 4.30 pm local time.
Yesterday, the local currency had staged a smart comeback to end at a nearly 3-month high of 67.19 against the US currency, surging by a solid 22 paise.
The domestic currency managed to sidestep the early volatility yesterday after RBI’s monetary policy committee maintained a status quo on repo rate amid widespread expectations of a rate cut.
For the second time in a row, the Reserve Bank opted for a status quo in its key rates but shifted the stance of the monetary policy from ‘accommodative’ to ‘neutral’.
Meanwhile, the broader NSE index closed 9.35 points or 0.11 per cent higher at 8,778.40, while the benchmark BSE index also gained 39.78 points or 0.14 per cent to close at 28,329.70.
The dollar managed to stabilise on Thursday after the previous session’s slide, although lingering risk aversion pinned Treasury yields near multi-week lows and restrained the greenback’s bounce.
The dollar rose 0.3 per cent to 112.265 yen after nearing a 10-week low of 111.590 the previous day. The greenback was hit as Treasury yields slid sharply overnight.
The dollar index against a basket of major currencies was up 0.1 per cent at 100.370.