Indian rupee opens at 60.49 per dollar; gains 18 paise.

​The Indian rupee opened higher by 18 paise on Friday at 60.49 per dollar versus 60.67 Thursday.

The dollar hovers just below its 2014 peak against a basket of major currencies, with bulls turning cautious ahead of a speech by Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen.

Breaking its three-session string of gains, the Indian rupee on Thursday retreated from three-week highs and ended six paise down at 60.67 against the greenback on importer demand for US currency, amid a firm dollar overseas. However, a marginal recovery in local equities and continued capital inflows restricted the rupee fall.

Yesterday, the dollar rallied against its key rivals after the Federal Reserve Released meeting minutes suggesting the pace of labour market gains is getting quicker and improvement in job market might force the Fed to hike key lending rates. The market is now looking for the outcome of the Friday's Fed Chairwoman Janet Yellen's speech at the Jackson Hole economic conference.

Pramit Brahmbhatt of Veracity said, "We expect Indian equities to trade strong and they are likely to post new all-time highs during the day. Rupee is also expected to appreciate today. We expect a range of 60.20-61/dollar."

Source : moneycontrol.com