Indian rupee hits 2-month high at ₹94.3 per USD
What's the story
The Indian rupee opened on a strong note today, hitting a two-month high. The currency appreciated by 67 paise against the US dollar at the opening, trading at ₹94.3 per dollar as compared to Wednesday's close of ₹94.97. This comes after a rough start to the week for the currency, which had seen some depreciation earlier.
RBI intervention
RBI's foreign-currency mobilization exceeds expectations
The Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) recent foreign-currency mobilization has greatly exceeded market expectations, bolstering the central bank's ability to support the domestic currency.
The RBI announced yesterday that India had mobilized $136.38 billion through special foreign-currency schemes, way above expectations.
Non-resident deposits contributed the most to this mobilization with nearly $127 billion, according to an RBI statement.
Market dynamics
Dollar index retreats below 99.50
The rupee is also expected to get more support from gains in Asian currencies and a retreat in the dollar index, which has gone below 99.50.
The dollar's decline has been largely driven by a strengthening Japanese yen.
Investors are now looking at upcoming US economic data and comments from Federal Reserve officials for indications of the central bank's policy direction and potential rate hike this month.