Rupee gains 16 paise at 69.72/$

The Indian rupee gained 16 paise on Friday to trade at day’s high level of 69.72 against the dollar. The currency opened 10 paise higher at 69.78/$.

 

At 11:20 AM, IST, the currency rose 10 paise to trade at 69.78 against the dollar compared to its previous close of 69.88/$.

 

The appreciation could be attributed to a sharp fall in global crude oil prices and a rally in domestic equity markets.

 

As per Bloomberg data, Brent and WTI crude oil prices slumped 1% each, at 66/bbls and 56/bbls, respectively. Crude oil prices slumped after The Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported a smaller-than-expected fall in the US crude inventories. As per EIA, the US crude stockpiles fell nearly 300,000 barrels last week, well below the 5.3mn barrel drawdown, the American Petroleum Institute (API) reported late Wednesday.

 

A sharp rally in the equity benchmark indices also contributed to an upward momentum in the domestic currency.

 

Domestic equity market was trading in the green on Friday with investors keeping a close watch on the awaited portfolio of PM Narendra Modi’s cabinet ministers. The Sensex reclaimed its key level of 40,000, rising ~256 points and the Nifty spurted 79 points to trade at 12,025 levels.

 

Meanwhile, investors are waiting for GDP and IIP numbers, which will be released today.

 

NIFTY FUTURE TIPS