Rupee gains 30 p against USD during the week

Mumbai, Oct 27: The Rupee gained about 30 paise against the American greenback in an extremely volatile inter bank foreign exchange (Forex) market and buoyant stock market, during the week ended October 26.

The Indian unit traded in a wide range of 39.41 and 39.92 as the market was highly volatile throughout the week. However, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) suported Rupee at certain levels but it continued gaining during the week, dealers said.

The dealers opined that the partially convertible Indian currency will be on the gaining side against the Dollar as the foreign fund inflows are expected to remain high in the coming week.

''The local unit gained for the fourth straight day and it is expected to further appreciate against the US Dollar, touching the level of 39 per dollar this week,'' a senior dealer with a leading private bank said.

Asia's best performing currency has gained more than 0.6 per cent last week to 39.45 against the Dollar, he added.

The Indian currency ended at 39.4450/4550 on Friday, gaining nearly 10 in a day against US Dollar on the note of benchmark Sensex rebounding to hit the new high of over 19K after new controls on Participatory notes (P-notes) was placed by the market regulator, Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI), on Thursday evening, dealers said.

However, on Monday, the local unit made a weak start at 39.86/88 per Dollar in a volatile forex market. It traded in a wide range and touched the low of 39.92 per Dollar before settling at a loss of about 15 paise against the Dollar.

On Tuesday, the Rupee registered its biggest gain in three weeks by closing 29 paise stronger against the US currency at 39.60 per Dollar on the heels of the stock market recorded a whopping gain.

Tracking the movements in the benchmark indices on Wednesday and Thursday, Rupee traded with slight fluctuations, while it gained strength on Friday when Sensex regained the level of over 19K, dealers added.

UNI