Rupee up by 4 paise at 63.40 against US dollar

Mumbai: Continuing its rising streak for the fifth straight session, the rupee in a volatile trade on Monday ended higher by 4 paise to 63.40 against the US currency following consistent selling of dollar by banks and exporters.

A sharp rebound in local equity markets along with robust capital inflows predominantly weighed on the local unit, despite strong dollar overseas.

The rupee resumed sharply lower at 63.62 per dollar against the weekend close of 63.44 at the Interbank Foreign Exchange market, spooked by uncertainties surrounding to Greece crisis and massive selling in equities, and drifted further to hit a fresh intra-day low of 63.65 on initial dollar demand.

However, it witnessed a remarkable turnaround on fresh selling of the American currency to close firmly higher at 63.40, showing a gain of 4 paise, or 0.04 per cent.

The local currency has strengthened by 44 paise, or 0.69 per cent, over the last five sessions.

In overseas trade, the dollar traded higher against major currencies on expectations that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates from record lows this year on the back of robust US macro data.

The US dollar index was up by 0.46 per cent to 96.82. The BSE Sensex rose by 115.97 points to settle at 28,208.76.

Oil futures fell to the lowest level in almost three months after Greece overwhelmingly rejected debt bailout proposal by the country's creditors amid worries about poor demand growth as well as global oversupply.

Veracity Group CEO Pramit Brahmbhatt said the rupee opened on a negative note after a Greece negative voting.

However, with the day progressed the rupee recovered and closed at 63.40. Also, the local equities recovered and close positive for the day which further supported the rupee to appreciate.

The trading range for the Spot USD/INR pair is expected to be within 63.00 to 63.90.

In the forward market, the premium for dollar remained under pressure on sustained receivings from exporters.

The benchmark six-month premium payable in December moved down to 216-218 paise compared to 218-220 paise and for June, 2016 contract also dropped to 436-438 paise from 440-442 paise last weekend.

The RBI fixed the reference rate for the dollar at 63.57 and for the euro at 70.29.

The rupee declined against the pound sterling to 98.67 from 99.13 and also drifted further against euro to 69.94 as compared to 70.39.

However, the domestic unit inched up against the Japanese unit to 51.62 per 100 yen from 51.61 in the previous session.