Rupee rises 21 paise against US dollar following BJP’s victory

Mumbai: The rupee appreciated by 21 paise to 69.81 against the United States (US) dollar on Friday following the BJP’s thumping victory in the Lok Sabha polls who results were declared on  Thursday.

Strong foreign institutional investment (FII) inflows and higher domestic equity markets also buoyed sentiments for the rupee, forex dealers said.

However, rising crude prices and strengthening dollar restricted the gains of the domestic unit, they added.

The rupee opened on a strong note at 69.75 against the greenback at the interbank forex market. However, it surrendered initial gains to trade at 69.81 in early trade.

The rupee had settled 36 paise down at 70.02 against the US dollar in the previous session.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday led his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to a resounding victory for a second term in the office. BJP won a total of 348 seats out of 542, going way beyond the magic number. Experts believe the hike in rupee’s value against the dollar is due to BJP’s victory.

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