Indian Rupee to U.S. Dollar Exchange Rate

The Indian rupee managed to close with gains against the dollar for the fourth straight session today, inching up by 1 paisa to 48.61/62 against the greenback, as late dollar buying by importers eroded its early lead amid firm stock markets.

At the Interbank Foreign Exchange market, the domestic unit resumed sharply higher at 48.40/42 a dollar from its last weekend's close of 48.62/64 and touched a high of 48.39 due to smart rally in stock markets.

Dealers attributed early rise in the rupee to sustained bullishness in the equity markets. A weak US dollar against major world currencies also aided the rupee sentiment at initial stages.

However, dollar buying by importers, mainly oil refiners, weighed on the rupee in later part of the trading and it fell back to a low of 48.66 before ending at 48.61/62 a dollar.

The global crude oil prices were trading above USD 74 a barrel in Asian trade today.

Indian benchmark Sensex today shot up by 388 points or 2.55 per cent on the back of heavy buying after a statement by US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke regarding the recovery in global economy.

He said that the economy is coming out of the deepest recession since 1930s.

The Reserve Bank of India, however, fixed the reference rate for the US dollar at Rs 48.50 and for the euro at Rs 69.45.

The rupee premiums on the forward dollar remained stable.

The benchmark six-month forward dollar premium payable in January ended at 53 - 55 paise from 54 - 56 paise on Friday and far-forwards maturing in July closed at its last weekend's level of 108 - 110 paise.

In cross-currency trade, the local unit recovered against the pound and the Japanese yen while finished steady against the euro.

The rupee recouped against the pound to end at Rs 80.24/26 per pound from last Friday's close of Rs 80.56/58 and also rose against the Japanese yen to Rs 51.32/34 per 100 yen from Rs 51.83/85 previously.

It, however, finished stable against the euro at its last weekend's level of Rs 69.62/64 per euro.