The rupee snapped its two-day losing streak against the American currency, firming up by 15 paise to close at 62.36 per dollar on fresh selling by banks and exporters on the back of lower dollar in the overseas markets.
The rupee opened sharply higher at 62.38 per dollar against the last closing level of 62.51 at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market and firmed up further to close at 62.36 per dollar, showing a gain of 15 paise or 0.24 per cent from its Monday’s close.
The domestic currency had dropped by 27 paise or 0.43 per cent in the previous two trading sessions.
It hovered in a range of 62.3600 per dollar and 62.4450 during the day.
Good capital inflows and lower dollar overseas mainly boosted the rupee value, a dealer said.
Foreign portfolio investors bought shares worth Rs 417.01 crore on Monday, as per provisional data.
On the global front, in New York the dollar snapped its six-straight session gains against the basket of currencies in early trade, after retail sales data failed to meet market expectations.
The dollar index, a gauge of six major global rivals, was up by 0.40 per cent.
However, the dollar was up against the yen in Asian trade today, with dip buying supporting the greenback, while slower growth in China weighed on the Australian dollar.
Continuing the deflationary trend for fifth month in a row, inflation touched a record low of (-)2.33 per cent in March as against (-) 2.06 pct in February.
Meanwhile, the benchmark BSE Sensex fell by 244.75 points or 0.84 per cent to close at 28,799.69.
In the forward market, premia dropped further on persistent receiving by exporters.
The benchmark six-month premium payable in September declined to 216-1/2 to 218-1/2 paise from Monday’s close of 221-223 and forward contracts maturing in March 2016 also dipped to 434-1/2 to 436-1/2 paise from 443-1/2 to 445-1/2 paise.
The Reserve Bank of India fixed the reference rate for dollar at 62.4026 and for the euro at 66.4837.
The rupee fell further against the pound sterling to 92.01 from 91.31 on Monday and also moved down against the euro to 66.06 per euro from 65.84, previously.
It also fell against the Japanese yen to 52.18 per 100 yens from 51.79 previously.
