Rupee strengthens 18 paise to 61.76 vs dollar

Rising for the second day, Indian rupee on Friday strengthened 18 paise to end at 61.76 against the greenback on suspected selling of the US dollar by state-run banks on behalf of the RBI and a strong rally in local stocks.

The rupee commenced a little bit higher at 61.93 a dollar from the previous close of 61.94. It immediately touched the day's low of 61.94 on rise in dollar value overseas amid fresh capital outflows.

Later, the rupee got a boost on likely further dollar selling of the US dollar by state-run banks "on behalf of the RBI", forex traders said. It touched a high of 61.75 before concluding at 61.76, a rise of 18 paise or 0.29 per cent.

On Thursday, it had ended up by two paise, or 0.03 per cent, after plunging to nine-month low levels of 62.25.

The benchmark S&P BSE Sensex on Friday spurted by 267.07 points, or 0.95 per cent, to log yet another new peak.

FPIs/FIIs sold shares worth $66.37 million yesterday, as per Sebi data. The dollar index was up by 0.50 per cent against its major global rivals on encouraging US economic data.

Pramit Brahmbhatt, Veracity Group CEO, said: "Rupee traded positively taking cues from strong local equities. Positive sentiments in the market helped local indices to touch new all time high."

"The trading range for the Spot USD/INR pair is expected to be within 61.40 to 62.20," he added. In the forward market, premia ended slightly better on stray payment pressure from banks and corporates.

The benchmark six-month premium payable in April edged up to 205.5-207.5 paise from Thursday's close of 205-207 paise. Forward contracts maturing in October, 2015, also rose to 428.5-430.5 paise from 426.5-428.5.

The Reserve Bank of India fixed the reference rate for dollar at 62.8505 and for the Euro at 77.6224.

The rupee improved further against the pound to 96.73 from 97.10 yesterday and shot up to 76.72 per euro from 77.64. It also hardened to 52.37 per 100 Japanese yen from 52.46.