MUMBAI, AUG 22: The Indian rupee continued its rally and closed further higher by 13 paise against the US greenback at 45.68/69 on improved export dollar supply at the interbank foreign exchange (forex) market today.Corporates continued to offload their dollar positions in view of RBI instructions. The RBI had directed exporters to convert half of their balances in exchange earners foreign currency (EEFC) account by August 23. Since the deadline ending tomorrow, the market witnessed comfortable supply today, dealers said.The rupee opened 19 paise higher from its previous close at 45.62/64, expecting heavy dollar inflows and stayed in that level quiet sometime. The Indian currency came under little pressure and fell to 45.72/73 level around noon before closing at 45.68/69, gaining 13 paise from the previous day's close of 45.81/82 per dollar.According to dealers, the rupee is likely to continue its firm trend tomorrow too. But they felt that the Indian unit likely to come under pressure on account of month-end demand.Sensex up by 52 points: The bull run on Indian markets continued on Tuesday. A frenzied buying spree by foreign institutional investors (FIIs) as well as speculators lifted the benchmark Sensex up by another 51.66 points to 4461.23 on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).The rally was mainly led by media-giant Zee Telefilm and software bellweather Infosys Tech which contributed most to the Sensex rise. Zee Telefilms, the most sought after stock, notched handsome gains on speculative buying support.Infosys Tech was in keen demand following heavy buying by FIIs on the back of sharp rise in the company's American Deposit Receipt (ADR) on the Nasdaq Stock Market last night. Select old-economy counters, including most of the index-based cement and pharma shares, were also in limelight on local institutions and funds support partly aiding the Sensex gain.Reports that FIIs made heavy purchases worth Rs 689 crore last week influenced operators to enlarge their commitments leading to widespread rise in shares of technology segment. However, fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) shares, including index-based like HLL, Colgate, ITC and Nestle showed a weak trend on profit-selling and arrested the Sensex rise.Himachal Futuristic topped the turnover list by registering the highest turnover of Rs 977.45 crore followed by Zee Telefilm Rs 835.89 crore, Satyam Computer Rs 673.82 crore. Other actively counters were Global Tele, Infosys Tech, Pentamedia, Silverline, Wipro, Sterlite, SSI and L&T.
