Rupee gains on jobs data, bond prices down on rate hike agenda

The rupee strengthened to its two-month high, as dollars pertaining to bonds raised by Reliance Industries (RIL) continued to pour into the country alongside some inflows into Indian equities

The Indian rupee strengthened against the US dollar, while bond prices weakened on Monday, led by different considerations.

The Indian currency closed at 74.038 a dollar, up from its previous close of 74.31 a dollar. Currency dealers say the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) let the rupee appreciate at first but later intervened to mop up the excess supply of the US unit.

The dollar generally remained weak against other currencies after jobs data for December showed that the US added just about half of over 400,000 expected in the labour force. But the unemployment rate, a key gauge, fell below 4