Rupee at 1-month high,up 7 paise at 59.04 against USD

opened strong at 58.82 a dollar from the previous close of

59.11 and strengthened to 58.69 on initial gains in local

stocks. Later,it fell to a low of 59.10 before closing at

59.04,a rise of seven paise or 0.12 per cent — its third day

of gains. Although the rupee strengthened above the 58 mark for the second day,it was unable to sustain those gains. On Tuesday,the Reserve Bank had announced additional liquidity-tightening measures to contain excessive speculation and volatility in the foreign exchange market.

“The currency continued to get the boost from the number

of measures taken by the RBI in last 10 days,” said Abhishek

Goenka,founder & CEO of India Forex Advisors. “It indicates

that the central bank is not ready to see the rupee weakening

and will take every possible step to stem the fall.”

The benchmark S&P BSE Sensex dropped 56.57 points,or

0.29 per cent. FIIs pulled out a net Rs 442.94 crore yesterday,as per provisional data with stock exchanges.

The dollar index was down by 0.10 per cent against six

major global rivals.

“The trading range for the spot USD/INR pair is expected

to be within 58.65 to 59.35,” said Pramit Brahmbhatt,CEO of

Alpari Financial Services (India).