The rupee finished up 0.23% at 81.9050 per dollar
to notch its biggest intraday percentage gain since April 13.
Foreign banks sold dollars in the latter half of the day,
likely on behalf of their custodial clients, traders said.
Indian shares extended gains to jump 0.7%, even as
broader equity markets remained subdued. There was also "some chatter" surrounding inflows related to
an initial public offering that may have helped the rupee, a
private bank trader added.
The currency was stuck in a narrow range for most of the
session, as has been the case over the past few days amid lack
of triggers in the lead up to the Federal Reserve meeting next
week.
"The rupee continues to trade without direction, drawing
influence mainly from modest flows and bids from oil companies
and public sector banks, possibly on behalf of the Reserve Bank
of India," said Jayaram Krishnamurthy, founding partner and COO,
Almus Risk Consulting.
"This is almost a reflection of the global market where the
dollar index is moving in a smaller range."
The dollar index gave up gains to trade down 0.1% at
101.550, having risen to 101.80 initially.
Asian currencies were mostly weaker as the Indonesian rupiah dropped 0.4%, after a survey on Friday showed U.S.
business activity accelerated to an 11-month high in April.
The positive data somewhat allayed worries about the U.S.
economy, pointing to the possibility of the Fed raising rates
beyond May and not cutting them later this year.
Markets now await U.S. March-quarter GDP data due on
Thursday to gauge the direction of rates.
(Reporting by Anushka Trivedi; Editing by Nivedita
Bhattacharjee)
By Anushka Trivedi
MUMBAI, April 24 (Reuters) - The Indian rupee gained
against the U.S. currency on Monday to strengthen past the
82-per-dollar level, outperforming its Asian counterparts as
foreign banks in India were seen selling the greenback, several
traders said.
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