The rupee gained 29 paise to close at the one-week high of 45.79/80 against US currency on renewed capital inflows and a weak dollar overseas. Fresh dollar selling by exporters too boosted the rupee sentiment. At the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market,which opened after two days holiday on August 31 and September 1,the domestic unit opened higher at 45.98/99 a dollar from last close of 46.08 Later it fell to the day's low of 46.00. However,smart rally in local equities amid dollar selling by exporters helped the rupee to rebound to settle the day at 45.79/80,exhibiting a rise of 0.62 per cent. The benchmark Sensex today firmed up by 144.71 points or 0.87 per cent,taking a total rise of 972.63 points or 6.13 per cent in three-session of gaining streak. Dollar selling by exporters near 46-level also aided the rupee rise. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought shares worth USD 253.18 million on August 29 and 30,after pulling out nearly USD 2 billion in straight ten trading days between August 12 and 26. "Rupee ended up by over half per cent against the dollar,taking cues from global markets where dollar traded weak against the major currencies. Equities also closed higher by about 9.0 per cent which further appreciated the rupee," Alpari Financial Services (India) CEO Pramit Brahmbhatt said. "Now next support to look out for Rupee is at 45.75 and the trading range for the USD/INR will be 45.75 to 46.10 tomorrow," he added. Dollar index was down by 0.08 per cent against its major rivals while New York crude oil was trading above USD 88 a barrel in European market today. Meanwhile,food inflation rose to double digit,after a gap of five months,to 10.05 per cent for week ended August 20 from 9.80 per cent in the previous week. "The rupee closed stronger today with the rally in local stocks. With the US Non Farm Employment change (NFP) data expected robustly,week traders are undertaking profit booking thus weakening the greenback," Abhishek Goenka,CEO,India Forex Advisors said. "The local unit has a weaker bias and we can comfortably target 46.10-46.15 levels in the week to come," he said. The rupee premium for the forward dollar recovered on fresh paying pressure from banks and exporters. The benchmark six-month forward dollar premium payable in February concluded up at 70-73 paise from Tuesday's close of 62-1/2-65-1/2 paise and far-forward contracts maturing in August also finished higher at 132-1/2-135-1/2 paise from 124-127 paise previously. The RBI fixed the reference rate for the dollar at Rs 45.8965 and the euro at Rs 65.4075. The rupee improved further against the pound sterling to end at Rs 74.22/24 from Tuesday's close of Rs 75.05/07 and also bounced back to Rs 65.27/29 per euro from Rs 66.35/37 previously. It too rebounded against the Japanese yen to Rs 59.63/65 per 100 yen from last close of Rs 59.96
