Rupee rebounds ahead of Fed meet, up 11 paise

Mumbai: The rupee today staged a smart comeback after two straight days of losses and ended 11 paise higher at 67.43 against the US dollar on positive sentiment triggered by lower inflation and fresh selling of the American currency by exporters.

However, prospects of the Federal Reserve raising interest rates after its two-day meeting concludes on Wednesday added some volatility in early trade. The US central bank is widely expected to bring in the first rate hike since December 2015.

Highly positive economic data lifted the overall forex market sentiment after retail inflation fell to a two-year low of 3.63 per cent in November, while wholesale inflation eased for the third straight month to 3.15 per cent.

At the Interbank Foreign Exchange (forex) market, the home currency resumed virtually stable at 67.54 and traded in a narrow range throughout the day.

But towards the fag-end trade, the home unit witnessed a strong recovery trend and closed at the day's highest level of 67.43, showing a gain of 11 paise, or 0.16 per cent.

It briefly touched a low of 67.54. In worldwide trade, the greenback turned weaker ahead of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement later in the day. The US dollar index was quoted modestly weak at 100.88 in late afternoon trade.

Meanwhile, the RBI today fixed the reference rate for the dollar at 67.5604 and euro at 71.9180. In cross-currency trades, the rupee also rebounded against the pound sterling to finish at 85.27 from 85.78, but drifted further against the euro to settle at 71.70 from 71.65 yesterday.

The local unit, too retreated against the Japanese yen to conclude at 58.66 as compared to 58.52 per 100 yens earlier.