The Indian rupee appreciated by 45 paise to 76.42 against the US dollar in intra-day trade on Friday, 17 April, after Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das announced measures to ensure adequate liquidity in the system to ease the financial stress caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Forex traders said positive domestic equities and weakening of the American currency in the overseas also supported the rupee, reported PTI.
At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 76.59, and then gained further ground and touched a high of 76.42 against the US dollar, registering a rise of 45 paise over its previous close.
On Thursday, the rupee had settled at an all-time low of 76.87 against the US dollar.
The central bank has reduced the reverse repo rate – the rate at which banks park their fund with the central bank – by 25 basis points to 3.75 percent. This will encourage banks to lend to the productive sectors of the economy.
Meanwhile, as of noon on Friday, Sensex was trading at 31,132, while Nifty was at 9,120.
In the opening session, Sensex had soared 1,109 points to 31,711, while Nifty had rallied 293 points to 9,286, as the equity markets had begun the final trading day of this truncated week on a strong note, tracking positive cues across Asian markets and in US futures.
All constituents of the Nifty and the Sensex had opened with gains.
All sectoral indices had also opened with gains, led by the Nifty Bank which opened 5 percent higher, while Nifty Auto, Meta, and the PSU Bank index opened with gains between 3-3.5 percent.
India is currently under an extended period of lockdown till 3 May to curb the spread of the coronavirus, which has infected over 13,000 people across the country.
(With inputs from BloombergQuint and PTI.)
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)