At 2pm, the rupee was trading at 64.85 a dollar, up 0.06% from its Tuesday’s close of 64.89

The Indian rupee on Wednesday strengthened marginally against the US dollar, tracking gains in the local equity markets.

At 2pm, the home currency was trading at 64.85 a dollar, up 0.06% from its Tuesday’s close of 64.89. The rupee opened at 64.77 a dollar.

The local equity markets trade higher for the fifth consecutive session and gained over 750 points, or 2.3%, in this period. The benchmark Sensex rose 0.37%, or 122.35 points, to 33,600.70. So far this year, it has gained 25.73%.

Traders will keep an eye on minutes from US Federal Reserve’s latest policy meeting, which will be released on Wednesday.

The 10-year bond yield was at 6.95%, compared to its previous close of 6.89%. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.

So far this year, the rupee has gained 4.84%, while foreign institutional investors have bought $8.21 billion and $22.48 billion in equity and debt, respectively.

Asian currencies were trading higher as dollar weakened after Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen warned against raising U.S. interest rates too quickly.

South Korean won was up 0.60%, Malaysian ringgit 0.59%, Japanese yen 0.37%, Taiwan dollar 0.34%, Singapore dollar 0.2%, China renminbi 0.19%, China offshore 0.17%, Philippines peso 0.13%, Thai baht 0.06%.

The dollar index, which measures the US currency’s strength against major currencies, was trading at 93.76, down 0.20% from its previous close of 93.952.

spurce: livemint.com