Mumbai, Jun 5 (PTI) The rupee appreciated 50 paise to 95.24 against the US dollar on Friday after the RBI liberalised norms for FPI investment in government securities.

Forex traders said the announcements in the RBI policy boosted investor sentiments after the apex bank asserted that the country's forex reserves provide sufficient buffer against external shocks.

At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened at 95.72, then touched 95.24 in intraday trade, registering a rise of 50 paise from its previous close.

On Thursday, the rupee rose 2 paise to settle at 95.74 against the US dollar.

The Reserve Bank on Friday expectedly kept interest rates unchanged for the second time in a row as it weighed the impact of rising energy prices and supply disruptions caused by the West Asia crisis.

Announcing the second bi-monthly monetary policy for the current fiscal, RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra said the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has unanimously decided to retain short-term lending rate or repo rate at 5.25 per cent with a neutral stance.

Moreover, the RBI raised limit for investments by Non-Resident Indians, Overseas Citizens of India in equity instruments.

Malhotra also said that the central bank's policy on exchange rate remains unchanged and it does not target any specific rate/band for the rupee.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading at 99.40, higher by 0.01 per cent.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading up 0.36 per cent at USD 95.37 per barrel in futures trade.

On the domestic equity market front, Sensex fell 142.06 points or 0.19 per cent to 74,217.95, while the Nifty was down 38.75 points or 0.17 per cent at 23,377.80.

Foreign institutional investors offloaded equities worth Rs 4,447.06 crore on a net basis on Thursday, according to exchange data.

Meanwhile, RBI has lowered GDP growth projection to 6.6 per cent from 6.9 per cent earlier for the current fiscal and raised CPI inflation projection to 5.1 per cent for FY27, higher from earlier estimate of 4.6 per cent. PTI DRR DR DR

Rupee appreciation after RBI policy as investment norms eased, repo rate stayed unchanged, and sentiment improved. Rupee appreciation followed the RBI's monetary policy announcement after the central bank liberalised norms for FPI investment in government securities and raised the investment limit for Non-Resident Indians and Overseas Citizens of India in equity instruments. The Monetary Policy Committee kept the repo rate unchanged at 5.25 per cent with a neutral stance, while the RBI stated that its exchange-rate policy remains unchanged and that it does not target any specific rate or band for the rupee.