Rupee appreciates most in over two weeks on likely RBI intervention in NDF market

Rupee appreciated 22 paise in the morning trade, which is highest since October 16

Indian rupee on November 4 appreciated most in over two weeks on likely intervention by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in the offshore non-deliverable forward (NDF), market participants said.

The Indian rupee appreciated 22 paise in the morning trade, which is highest since October 16. The local currency opened 39 paise up to 88.3925 against the US dollar, as compared to 88.7813 against the greenback.

“RBI intervened in the NDF market before the spot market opens,” said a treasury head at PSU bank.

The local currency has remained towards 88.70 in the last few weeks amid pressure from the Asian currencies.

Amit Pabari, managing director at CR Forex Advisor said that October GST collections rose 4.6 percent to Rs 1.96 lakh crore, highlighting firm consumption trends and healthy tax buoyancy.

Meanwhile, market attention has shifted to the portfolio flows, where Lenskart’s IPO closes for bids on Tuesday and Groww’s $754 million offering opens the same day. Both issues are expected to attract strong portfolio inflows, providing near-term support to equities and, in turn, lending some stability to the rupee, Pabari added.

Dilip Parmar, a foreign exchange analyst at HDFC Securities expect USDINR to trade between 88.30 to 89.25 range in November.