Rupee strengthens against US dollar on Friday
The Indian rupee strengthened against the US dollar on Friday due to mild gains across the Asian currencies, even as mixed US jobs report fuelled uncertainty over December rate cut by the Federal Reserve. Data showing that US employers added a surprisingly solid 119,000 jobs in September, while the unemployment rate rose to an almost four-year high of 4.4%. Moreover, lower crude oil prices, interbank dollar sales and foreign fund inflows have also supported rupee sentiments. Foreign institutional investors bought equities worth Rs 283.65 crore on a net basis on Thursday, exchange data showed. However, some gains were limited by reports that the pace of growth in India's eight core infrastructure sectors stayed flat year-on-year in October, a sharp decline from the 3.3% growth recorded in September and the weakest performance in 14 months.
The partially convertible currency is currently trading at 88.62, stronger by 6 paise from its previous close of 88.68 on Thursday. The currency touched a high and low of 88.7075 and 88.5950 respectively.
