“Bunched up inflows, largely from FIIs looking to buy Indian equities, was the primary reason behind the rupee's rise today. The central bank was heard to be paying on the forward, probably unwinding some of the forward sales it had contracted last year.
“As a result, the 12-month forward is quoting at 513/516 paise, highest level since mid-August of last year,” said Anindya Banerjee, Currency Analyst, Kotak Securities. Forward dollar premium improved on sustained payments from banks and corporates.
The benchmark six-month premium payable in September edged up to 258.5-260.5 paise from 258-260 paise previously.
Far forward contracts maturing in March, 2015 also moved up to 509.5-511.5 paise from 507-509 paise. The Reserve Bank of India fixed the reference rate for dollar at 59.64 and for the euro at 82.39.
The rupee fell back against the pound to 99.69 from last Friday's close of close of 99.56. It ended lower at 82.57 per euro from 82.27. However, it strengthened at 57.77 per 100 Japanese yen from last weekend's level of 58.54.
