The Indian rupee strengthened on Thursday in tandem with Asian peers and supported by firm stocks, and traders said it could breach 44 to the dollar for the first time in more than two years. Record foreign buying of domestic stocks has been the main driver for the rupee, and the inflow is expected to rise when Coal India opens a $3.5 billion IPO next week.
At 2:20 pm (0850 GMT), the partially convertible rupee was at 44.21/22 after hitting 44.09, which was its highest since September 1, 2008 and above its previous close of 44.51/52. Broadly, however, the rupee is seen moving in 44.15-44.35 band. One-month offshore non-deliverable forward contracts were quoted at 44.43, weaker than the onshore spot rate. In the currency futures market, the most traded near-month dollar-rupee contracts on the National Stock Exchange, MCX-SX and United Stock Exchange were at 44.3325, 44.3325 and 44.3300 respectively.