The rupee rose to a three-week high on Wednesday, extending gains for a fifth session, with corporates selling the dollar as the Indian currency continued its recovery.
The rupee's sharp recovery has been aided by the easing of geopolitical concerns, with an attack on Syria appearing less imminent, and the announcement of a series of steps to attract inflows by the new central bank Governor, Raghuram Rajan.
Dealers cited large dollar inflows from a private petrochemical company as well as some likely dollar selling related to Mylan Inc's $1.6 billion deal to acquire a unit of Strides Arcolab Ltd. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought $421.15 million worth of shares on Tuesday, bringing their total to nearly $800 million over the previous four sessions. "The panic dollar buying has reduced. Those who were sitting on the sidelines hoping for further falls in the currency have started selling. I expect the rupee to recover to 61 to the dollar," said Satyajit Kanjilal, chief executive at ForexServe.