The rupee appreciated 13 paise to 75.90 (prelim) against the US dollar on Friday, while the Reserve Bank of India maintained the status quo of the benchmark interest rate.
Announcing monetary policy, RBI Governor Shakkanta Das said that the Indian economy has large foreign exchange reserves and is ready and determined to defend the economy.
In the interbank FX market, the domestic unit opened at 75.99 against the US dollar, hitting a daily high of 75.70 and finally closed at 75.90, up 13 paise from the previous close.
On Thursday, the rupee was down 19 paise to close at 76.03.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the dollar’s strength against a basket of six currencies, traded 0.12% higher to 99.87.
This is the 11th consecutive time that the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), headed by Mr. Das, has maintained the status quo and left the benchmark interest rate unchanged at 4%.
The RBI last revised its policy rate, or short-term lending rate, on May 22, 2020 in an off-policy cycle to stimulate demand by cutting the interest rate to an all-time low.
On the domestic stock market front, the 30-stock BSE Sensex finished 412.23 points, or 0.70%, higher at 59,447.18 and the broader NSE Nifty rose 144.80 points, or 0.82%, to 17,784.35.
Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, rose 0.99% to $101.58 a barrel.
Foreign institutional investors remained net sellers in the capital market on Thursday, selling 5,009.62 crore of shares, according to stock market data.
