The rupee today staged a smart recovery after falling to a six-week low initially, to close with an 18 paise gain at 53.80 on sustained dollar sales by exporters in view of weak US currency in overseas markets.
At the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market the local unit resumed slightly better at 53.96 a dollar from yesterday’s close of 53.98.
The dollar index was down by 0.23 per cent against a basket of six major currencies on cautious trade ahead of the reopening of US financial markets later in the day for the first time after hurricane Sandy. New York crude oil was trading above USD 86 a barrel in European trade today.
The dollar index continued to edge lower on expectations of the Fed to continue the liquidity programme to overcome the mass destruction caused by Hurricane Sandy.
Rupee’s gains today were second straight in a row after it belied expectations by rising 10 paise to claw back to 53-level after RBI disappointed market by not cutting repo rate yesterday.
The rupee had weakened recently amid Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) pulling out USD 119.51 million from stocks in the past four sessions since October 25.
