Rupee recovers 8 paise against dollar on RBI intervention

After breaching the 62-mark in early trade, Indian rupee on Tuesday rebounded and ended with a gain of 8 paise at 61.86 against the Greenback on account of suspected RBI intervention through state-owned banks.

Despite a sharp sell-off in local stocks and lower dollar value ahead of key US economic data release, the Indian rupee showed strength, traders said, adding that strong capital inflows to equity and debt markets also provided support.

At the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market, the domestic unit resumed slightly lower at 61.95 and later slumped to 62.04 on the back of strong dollar demand.

However, selling of dollars by banks and some exporters helped the local unit clock a sharp recovery to conclude at 61.86, a rise of 8 paise or 0.13 per cent.

It touched a high of 61.8425 in intraday trade.

The rupee had lost 18 paise to close at 61.94 on Tuesday, marking its first loss in three sessions.

Meanwhile, the US dollar index was trading almost flat against a basket of currencies.

The Indian benchmark S&P BSE Sensex snapped its record breaking journey and slumped by about 161 points, or 0.57 per cent, to conclude at 28,338.05.

Provisional data released by stock exchanges showed that Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 407.42 crore on Monday.