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Mumbai: The rupee appreciated 47 paise to 94.26 against the US dollar in early trade on Thursday, supported by much higher-than-expected FCNR (B) deposits mobilisation.
Forex traders said the rupee’s movement reflects strong underlying inflows and aggressive RBI intervention offsetting the negative impact of higher crude oil prices and global yields.
At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened at 94.30 against the US dollar, then gained ground to touch 94.26, registering a gain of 47 paise from its previous close. On Wednesday, the rupee settled at 94.73 on Wednesday, recording a gain of 22 paise. India mobilised a record USD 127.23 billion through foreign-currency deposits under a special central-bank programme aimed at bolstering the country’s foreign-exchange liquidity.
“This gives RBI a long rope in terms of defending the rupee, it creates a huge sterilisation problem as banking system liquidity surplus will likely go to around Rs 10 lakh crore as banks swap the deposits with RBI,” IFA Global said in a research note.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading at 99.43, marginally lower by 0.16 per cent on safe-haven demand amid renewed US-Iran tensions.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading marginally lower by 0.16 per cent at USD 95.48 per barrel in futures trade, on escalating US-Iran tensions and fears of disruption to oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz. On the domestic equities market front, Sensex climbed 221.17 points to 76,791.52 in early trade, while the Nifty was trading up 59.55 points to 23,974.
Foreign institutional investors purchased equities worth Rs 6,688.37 crore on a net basis on Wednesday, according to exchange data. Foreign Currency Non-Resident (Bank), or FCNR(B) deposits accounted for USD 127.226 billion in inflows as of August 31, the Reserve Bank of India said Wednesday.
Including overseas foreign-currency borrowings (OFCB) and external commercial borrowings (ECB), total inflows under the measures reached USD 136.377 billion.
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