Mumbai: The Indian rupee on Wednesday rose for the fifth consecutive session and hit a four-week high against the US dollar, after foreign institutional investors (FIIs) continued to buy equities in the local markets. FIIs bought $812.87 million in equities since last ten consecutive sessions.

The home currency closed at 66.65—a level last seen on 12 May, up 0.19% from its previous close of 66.78. The rupee opened at 66.78 per US dollar and touched a high of 66.62—a level last seen on 12 May.

India’s benchmark Sensex index rose 0.04%, or 10.99 points, to 27,020.66. So far this year, the Sensex has gained 3.46%.

The government will issue Index of Industrial Production (IIP) data on 10 June for the month of April. According to Bloomberg analyst poll, IIP will be at -0.6% in April against 0.1% in March.

Meanwhile, India’s 10-year bond yield closed at 7.49%—a level last seen on 30 March, as compared with its Tuesday’s close of 7.483%.

So far this year, the rupee has weakened 0.74%, while FIIs have bought $2.66 billion from the local equity market and sold $1.25 billion in the debt market.

Most Asian currencies closed higher. South Korean won rose 0.5%, Taiwan dollar 0.26%, Japanese yen 0.23%, Philippines peso 0.21%, Thai baht 0.14% and Singapore dollar 0.13%. However, Malaysian ringgit was down 0.16% and Indonesian rupiah 0.05%.

The dollar index, which measures the US currency’s strength against major currencies, was trading at 93.649, down 0.2% from its previous close of 93.828.

Source:livemint.com