The rupee rebounded from initial sharp fall and closed higher by 4 paise at 49.14/15 against the US currency today following late dollar selling by exporters and recovery in local stocks.
Continued capital inflows also helped the rupee to rise for the second day in a row, dealers said.
At the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market, the domestic unit opened sharply lower at 49.42/43 a dollar from last close of 49.18/19 and dropped further to a low of 49.56 on initial weakness in equities.
Dollar demand from importers, mainly oil refiners, also put pressure on the rupee in the early trade.
However, late recovery in equities amid fall in dollar overseas helped the rupee to bounce back to a high of 49.13 before finishing better at 49.14/15.
The BSE benchmark Sensex, which was down by nearly 187 points at mid-session, closed higher by a modest 17 points or 0.10 per cent, snapping three-session of losing string.
The dollar index of six major currencies was down by about 0.4 per cent and the New York crude oil was trading above USD 93 a barrel in European market today.
The rupee premium for the forward dollar improved further on sustained paying pressure from banks and corporates.
The benchmark six—month forward dollar premium payable in April ended higher at 113—115 paise from overnight close of 112—1/2—114—1/2 paise and far—forward contracts maturing in October also settled strong at 180—182 paise from 169—171 paise previously.
The RBI fixed the reference rate for the US dollar at Rs 49.3748 and for the euro at Rs 67.5920.
The rupee edged up against the pound sterling to end at Rs 78.61/63 from yesterday’s close of Rs 78.62/64 and also recovered slightly to Rs 67.71/73 per euro from Rs 67.78/80 previously. It settled a tad higher against the Japanese yen at 63.00/02 per 100 yen from its last close of Rs 63.01/03.
