Rupee closes strong

The rupee on Friday ended at 44.10/11 per dollar, much stronger than the previous closing of 44.17/18 against the greenback. The local currency touched an intra-day high of 44.05 vis-a-vis the dollar, but suspected intervention from the central bank saw it come off these levels, said treasury managers. There were heavy inflows on account of bundling of supplies due to a large number of holidays this week. Overseas, as the FOMC refrained from hiking rates further, currencies such as the UK pound, the Japanese yen and the euro strengthened by nearly 100 basis points versus the dollar.

Unless the US non-farm payroll data gives out positive cues, it is quite likely that the local currency might even breach the 44-mark against the dollar. Forward premia ended the day lower, as the yield on the one-month contract closed at 3.29% (3.84%). Similarly, the yield on the six-month premia ended at 3.42% (3.52%), while that on the one-year premia closed at 3.03% (3.08%).