Rupee snaps 3-day losing streak, settles 33 paise higher at 71.68

Newly-appointed RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das' comments that he will take all stakeholders along on key issues also bolstered sentiment, analysts said.

At the Interbank Foreign Exchange (forex), the rupee opened on a firm note at 71.70 against the US dollar and surged further to touch a high of 71.51 during the day.

The local unit finally ended at 71.68, higher by 33 paise over its previous closing price.

On Wednesday, the rupee had declined by 16 paise to 72.01 per US dollar.

"The new RBI governor's first speech confirms our initial impression that he is likely to be more communicative and consultative in his approach, which is a positive," Japanese financial services major Nomura said in a research note.

It further added that on policy, it does appear that he is likely to relax regulatory norms for banks (make them more counter-cyclical) and he will be more proactive in injecting liquidity.

Meanwhile, the global oil benchmark Brent crude was trading lower by 0.25 per cent at USD 60 per barrel.

On the domestic front, benchmark indices rose for the third straight session Thursday. The BSE Sensex climbed 150.57 points, or 0.42 per cent, to end at 35,929.64, while the broader NSE Nifty rose 53.95 points, or 0.50 per cent, to 10,791.55.

On a net basis, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth Rs 1,299.43 crore Wednesday, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net buyers to the tune of Rs 1,121.29 crore, provisional data available with BSE showed.

The Financial Benchmark India Private Ltd (FBIL) set the reference rate for the rupee/dollar at 71.5368 and for rupee/euro at 81.3407. The reference rate for rupee/British pound was fixed at 90.3095 and for rupee/100 Japanese yen at 63.06.