The Indian rupee
broke its 6-session losing string and bounced back with vengeance on Friday, jumping 135 paise against the US dollar - its second biggest rise in absolute term in a decade - to close at almost one-week high of 63.20.
Fresh heavy dollar selling by exporters and some banks, along with a rally in local equities
boosted the sentiment while firm dollar overseas and sustained capital outflows failed to stem the rupee rise.
At the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market, the domestic unit opened higher at 64.30 but immediately touched a low of 64.75 on initial weakness in equities.
Later, it rebounded and shot up at the fag-end to settle at 63.20 - which was also the day's high - revealing a rise of 135 paise or 2.09 per cent. Previously, it had flared up by 152 paise, or 3.08 per cent, on May 18, 2009.
Meanwhile, the
BSE Sensex spurted by 206.50 points, or 1.13 per cent, on Friday after rising 407.03 points in its previous session, even as FIIs pulled out Rs 1,277.64 crore on Thursday.
The dollar index was up by 0.10 per cent against its major rivals ahead of the Federal Reserve's annual gathering.
Finance Minister
P Chidambaram had on Thursday injected some confidence in investors as he said the currency is undervalued and has overshot appropriate levels but that there was no need for "excessive and unwarranted pessimism".
Even the Reserve Bank of India had in a separate statement allayed investors' fears, saying it has adequate foreign exchange reserves to deal with the declining value of rupee and the widening current account deficit (CAD).
With inputs from PTI
PHOTO: Reuters 
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