Rupee pushes up 16 paise against dollar after Fed rate hike

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The rupee looked strong today with a gain of 16 paise at 64.28 against the dollar even as the Federal Reserve raised interest rates by a quarter percentage point.

In her final act as the Fed chair, Janet Yellen moved to hike rates to a range of 1.25 per cent to 1.5 per cent, citing solid US job growth and household spending.

The central bank kept its policy outlook on additional increases for 2018 and 2019 unchanged.

Domestic stocks opened strong. Yesterday, the rupee had lost 4 paise at 64.44 against the American currency ahead of the US Fed’s rate call. The benchmark BSE Sensex rose 116.70 points, or 0.35 per cent, at 33,169.74 in early session today.