Rupee posts biggest single day gain against dollar since April 23

The rupee on Thursday advanced 59 paise, its biggest single-day gain since April 23, to close at 75.01 against the US dollar, boosted by gains in the domestic equity market amid weakness in the greenback.

Moreover, investor sentiment strengthened further after Pfizer reported encouraging vaccine test results.

The first of four experimental Covid-19 vaccines being tested by Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech showed encouraging results in very early testing of 45 people, the companies said on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, fell 0.35 per cent to 96.85.

The 30-share BSE benchmark Sensex was up 560 points, or 1.59 per cent, at 35977 at around 2.20 pm (IST), while the NSE Nifty index traded 157 points, or 1.50 per cent, higher at 10,586 at around the same time.