The rupee on Wednesday appreciated by 14 paise to close at 45.11/12 against the U.S. currency, moving in tandem with local stocks amid sale of dollars by exporters and dip in crude oil prices.
Forex dealers said that fresh sale of dollars by exporters and some banks aided the rupee’s firm trend.
Fall in global crude oil prices too supported the rupee’s surge as importers, mainly oil refiners, preferred to refrain from buying dollars for the time being, they added.
At the New York Mercantile Exchange crude was trading at USD 99.24 a barrel.
The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex, which was down by nearly 272 points or 1.47 per cent yesterday, bounced back by over 191 points or 1.05 per cent, mainly supporting the rupee.
Meanwhile, the dollar index was up by nearly 0.08 per cent against a basket of currencies while crude oil was trading above USD 98 a barrel in Europe today.
At the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market, the domestic currency opened higher at 45.19/20 a dollar from last close of 45.25/26.
Later, it moved in a range of 45.25 and 45.10 before settling the day at 45.11/12.
The rupee premium for the forward dollar also bounced back on fresh paying pressure from banks and corporates. The benchmark six-month forward dollar premium payable in August settled higher at 144-146 paise from 139-140 paise previously.
Far-forward contracts maturing in February also finished up at 276-278 paise from 269-271 paise yesterday.
The Reserve Bank of India has fixed the reference rate for the dollar at Rs. 45.18 and the euro at Rs. 63.13.
The rupee fell back to Rs. 72.49/51 against the pound sterling from Tuesday’s close of Rs. 72.42/44 and also eased against the euro to Rs. 62.88/90 from Rs. 62.83/85 previously.
It, however, moved down further against the yen to Rs. 55.91/93 per 100 yen from its last close of Rs. 55.66/68.
