Recovering from the nine-month lows during the day,the rupee on Monday gained 7 paise to close at 45.67/68 against the US currency on late dollar selling and smart bounce back in equity markets. A weak dollar overseas too aided the rupee sentiment but sustained capital outflows capped the surge,dealers said. At the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market,the domestic unit opened sharply down at 45.92/93 a dollar from 45.74/75 last weekend. Within a few minutes of trade it fell to 46.10,a level not seen since November 30,2010,when it had hit a low of 46.12. Dealers attributed the initial fall in the rupee to the initial weakness in local equities amid continued dollar demand from importers,mainly oil refiners. However,smart recovery in stocks and dollar selling by exporters in later part of the day helped the rupee rebound and close with a gain of 7 paise,they added. "Strong local stock markets,gaining Asian peers and heavy selling by exporters negated the pressurising effect of dollar buying by the oil companies," India Forex Advisors CEO Abhishek Goenka said. Alpari Financial Services (India) CEO Pramit Brahmbhatt said,"The rupee traded range bound initially,but late dollar demand helped recovery,mainly taking cues from firm Asian peers and weak dollar overseas."
