Indian rupee up 38 paise vs US dollar on strong equities

The euro edged up against the dollar on hopes that eurozone might bring a bail-out plan to debt-ridden Greece to contain the region’s debt crisis.

At the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market,the local unit opened strong at 49.17/18 a dollar from previous close of 49.45/46.

It fell back to a low of 49.30 in late morning deals on dollar demand from importers,mainly oil refiners,and also sustained capital outflows.

Later,supply exceeded the demand and it recovered sharply to a high of 49.06 before concluding at 49.07/08,a rise of 0.77 per cent.

“Strong support for USD/INR pair is seen at 49.00 levels and the trading range will be 48.90 to 49.40 tomorrow,” Alpari Financial Services (India) CEO Pramit Brahmbhatt said.

The BSE benchmark Sensex,after a steep fall of 1,048.18 points,or 6.12 per cent,in last four trading sessions,recouped by nearly 473 points today,which mainly helped the rupee rise.

FIIs,extracted USD 695.33 million in last three trading days since September 22,as per Sebi data.

The Reserve Bank of India fixed the reference rate for the dollar at Rs 49.1775 and the euro at Rs 66.6331.

The dollar index,a gauge of six major currencies,was down by nearly 0.2 per cent.

The rupee premium for the forward dollar also recouped on fresh paying pressure from banks and corporates.

The benchmark six-month forward dollar premium payable in February rose to 86-1/2-88-1/2 paise from 85-88 paise on Monday and far-forward contracts maturing in August also firmed up to 124-1/2-126-1/2 paise from 122-125 paise in the previous session.

The rupee recovered against the pound sterling to end at Rs 76.61/63 from yesterday’s close of Rs 76.79/81 and moved up to Rs 66.63/65 per euro from Rs 66.87/89 previously.

It also rose against the Japanese yen to Rs 64.24/26 per 100 yen from last close of Rs 64.82/84.