Rupee rises tracking Asian units, stocks

The rupee kick started the month on a strong note, rising early on Monday tracking regional units, local shares and with month-end hefty dollar demand out of the way.

Asian peers were up with regional stocks rising while gold and the yen dropped on Monday as investors cut safety trades after Washington reached a last-minute deal to escape default, though the top US credit rating could still be downgraded.

At 9:37 am, the partially convertible rupee was at 44.045/44.0500 after rising 0.4% last week to 44.185/195 per dollar on Friday. The unit is expected to move in 43.95-44.07 band in the day.

Indian shares rallied more than 1% in early trades on Monday, in line with Asian equities, after top US lawmakers struck a deal to avoid a debt default. Lenders led the gainers.

Obama on Sunday announced a last-minute deal to raise the US borrowing limit and urged lawmakers to "do the right thing" and approve the proposed agreement to avert a catastrophic default.

The euro was at USD 1.4391, down from USD 1.4449 when the rupee closed on Friday. The index of the dollar against six major currencies was at 73.806 points from Friday's 73.709 points.