India’s foreign currency assets (FCA), the biggest component of the forex reserves, saw a rise of $2.20 billion to $516.63 billion.
Reserves had gone up by $6.3 billion in the week ending April 7.
The central bank intervenes in the spot and forwards markets to prevent runaway moves in the rupee. Changes in forex reserves also stem from valuation gains or losses.
Rising for the second straight session, the rupee appreciated 8 paise to close at 82.09 (provisional) against the US dollar on Friday, supported by softening crude oil prices in the international markets. However, a muted trend in domestic equities and foreign fund outflows capped the gains in the rupee, traders said.
At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local unit opened strong at 82.11 against the US currency. The rupee touched an intra-day high of 82.07 and a low of 82.19. It finally ended the session at 82.09 (provisional) against the greenback, registering a gain of 8 paise over its previous close.
On Thursday, the rupee closed at 82.17 against the US currency.The Indian currency has gained 15 paise in the past two trading sessions, even though the participants traded cautiously due to expectations of further interest rate hikes by the US Federal Reserve and other central banks.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, rose 0.05 per cent to 101.89.
Global oil benchmark Brent crude futures declined 0.15 per cent to USD 80.98 per barrel.
On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share BSE Sensex inched up 22.71 points or 0.04 per cent to end at 59,655.06, and the broader NSE Nifty closed 0.40 points down at 17,624.05.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the capital market on Thursday as they offloaded shares worth Rs 1,169.32 crore, according to exchange data.
(With inputs from agencies)
