The rupee appreciated by 15 paise to close at three-week high of 60.16 against the dollar following sustained selling of the U.S. currency by exporters amid capital inflows, completing three straight sessions of gain.
However, weakness in local equities and a firm dollar overseas capped the rupee rise.
At the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market, the domestic unit commenced higher at 60.22 a dollar from previous close of 60.31.
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It was trapped in a narrow range before settling at 60.16, up 15 paise or 0.25 per cent from its previous close.
In straight three sessions, the domestic currency risen by 49 paise or 0.81 per cent.
The dollar index was up by 0.06 per cent against its major global rivals.
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The benchmark BSE Sensex eased by 13.91 points on Thursday, extending losses for the fifth day.
FIIs injected Rs 454.48 crore on Wednesday, as per provisional data with stock exchanges.
Pramit Brahmbhatt, Veracity Group CEO said: “The rupee continued to trade positively on extended corporate inflows.
Exporters also supported the rupee movement by selling the dollars, though range bound movement in local indices capped the gain.”
The benchmark six-month premium payable in October ended at 225.5-227.5 paise against 225-227 paise previously.
Far forward contracts maturing in April, 2015 closed at 456-458 paise against 454-456 paise previously
The Reserve Bank of India fixed the reference rate for dollar at 60.2250 and for the euro at 83.4590.
The rupee softened against the pound to 101.49 from 101.48 previously while improved further against the euro to 83.38 from 83.54.
It rose to 58.72 per 100 Japanese yen from 58.83.