The rupee opened higher against the greenback on Friday, extending gains for the fifth session in a row, on sustained foreign fund flows ahead of general elections.
At 09:10 AM, the
rupee was trading at 69.22 a dollar, up 12 paise from its Thursday’s close of 69.34. The home currency opened at 69.33 and touched a high and a low of 69.21 and 69.34 a dollar, respectively.
The Indian currency has been riding high on massive liquidity push in form of strong foreign fund inflows in March. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) have poured in more than Rs 10,000 crore in Indian stocks so far this month, reported PTI.
FIIs remained net buyers in the capital markets, putting in Rs 1,482.99 crore Thursday, as per provisional data.
The gains come amid growing support for the Modi government in the upcoming general elections.
Lok Sabha elections will begin on April 11 and will be held over seven phases followed by counting of votes on May 23, the Election Commission announced on Sunday.
Globally, the dollar held gains having snapped its four-day losing streak to a group of six major peers.
The dollar index was little changed at 96.738 after rising 0.25 percent on Thursday to bounce back from a nine-day trough of 96.385.
In commodity markets, oil prices were steady owing to global production cuts and supply disruptions in Venezuela.
International Brent crude oil futures were at $67.15 per barrel at 0126 GMT, 8 cents below their last close, but still within a dollar of the $68.14 2019-high reached the previous day.
In debt markets, the
yields on the 10-year government bonds were down 0.18 percent to 7.36 percent from its previous close of 7.38 percent. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.
