The rupee on Monday staged a mild recovery by gaining by 6 paise to end at 68.10 on fresh dollar selling by banks and encouraging macro-economic data.
Buoyant macro-economic data released over the weekend alongside firm local equities largely supported the recovery momentum despite bullish dollar overseas.
Though, trading was largely confined to a narrow range in the absence of any big triggers, a forex dealer commented.
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Marking positive growth for the fourth month in a row, country’s exports rose by 5.72 per cent to $ 23.9 billion in December whereas imports grew by 0.46 per cent to $34.25 billion during the month under review, leaving a trade deficit of $10.36 billion as against $11.5 billion in December 2015.
Tracking strong dollar movement, the domestic currency opened substantially lower at 68.21 from last weekend close of 68.16 at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (forex) market and depreciated further to 68.26 on sustained dollar demand.
However, the domestic unit staged a strong recovery towards the fag-end trade to hit a fresh intra-day high of 68.0875 before settling at 68.10, showing a gain of 6 paise, or 0.09 per cent.
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It had lost 8 paise last Friday.
In worldwide trade, the US dollar traded firmly higher against major world currencies following stellar December retail sales, reflecting a boost in confidence after the US election.
Meanwhile, pound sterling plunged to multi-decade low on growing fears Britain leaving EU single market ahead of Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit speech on Tuesday.
The US dollar index was trading higher at 101.64 in late afternoon session.
The RBI fixed the reference rate for the dollar at 68.1558 and for the euro at 72.4155.
In cross-currency trades, the rupee rose sharply against the pound sterling to finish at 82.11 from 83.22 and also strengthened against the against the euro to close at 72.13 as compared to 72.62 earlier.
But, it fell back against the Japanese Yen to settle at 59.63 per 100 yens from 59.49.