Rupee snaps 4-day losing streak; settles 15 paise up at 68.89 vs USD

Mumbai: The rupee on Friday rose by 15 paise to close at 68.89 against the US currency, snapping its four days of losses following a recovery in the domestic equity market.

At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local unit opened lower at 69.12, and shuttled between a high of 68.85 and a low of 69.14 during the day. The rupee finally closed at 68.89, up 15 paise over its previous close.

The rupee had settled at 69.04 against the US dollar on Thursday.

"Indian rupee broke the four-day losing streak amid recovery in equity market on Friday. Rupee decoupled the emerging market currencies in expectation of foreign funds inflow," said V K Sharma, Head PCG and Capital Markets Strategy, HDFC Securities.

Sharma further noted that market participant will be eyeing on US GDP number which would provide hint on Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) rate decision next week.

On a weekly basis, the local currency lost 9 paise.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, rose 0.10 per cent to 97.91.

The 10-year government bond yield was at 6.53 per cent on Friday.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, surged 0.60 per cent to USD 63.77 per barrel.

On the domestic equity market front, the BSE Sensex snapped its six-session falling streak. Sensex ended 51.81 points or 0.14 per cent higher at 37,882.79 while NSE Nifty rose 32.15 points or 0.29 per cent to settle at 11,284.30.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) remained net sellers in the capital markets, pulling out Rs 126.65 crore on Thursday, provisional exchange data showed.

Meanwhile, on the global front, European Central Bank (ECB) in its policy decision on Thursday left key interest rates unchanged.

Other major global cues that are going to dictate the trend in the currency market include the FOMC meeting on July 31, traders said.