Rupee rises to over 2-month high, up 16 paise

The rupee on Monday jumped by 16 paise to end at over two-month high of 61.71 against the greenback on good inflows in local markets and sustained dollar sales by exporters, extending its winning trend to third straight day.

A weak dollar overseas also boosted the sentiment in favour of the rupee here as the dollar index was down 0.15 per cent against major rivals, forex traders said.

At the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market, the domestic unit resumed strong at 61.60 a dollar from previous close of 61.87 and immediately touched a high of 61.58.

Later, it met with resistance and fell back to a low of 61.79.

The rupee settled at 61.71, exhibiting a rise of 16 paise or 0.26 per cent. In straight three sessions, it has shot up by 51 paise or 0.82 per cent.

Monday's closing of 61.71 is the rupee's strongest level at close since 61.55 on November 13, 2014.

Veracity Group, CEO, Pramit Brahmbhatt, said: "Overseas investors continued to pour money into the debt market and some banks were also seen selling dollars in the market which helped the rupee to trade strong against the US dollar."

The stocks benchmark S&P BSE Sensex today improved further by 140.12 points, or 0.50 per cent.

FPIs infused worth $197.01 million on Friday, as per Sebi data.