Forex update: Indian rupee ends 9 paise up against US dollar, at 60.67 on rally in local stocks

After a four-day long holiday, the rupee rallied for the straight second session and appreciated by nine paise to close at a fresh two-week high of 60.67 against the Greenback on sustained dollar selling by exporters amid continued capital inflows in firming local equities, in an otherwise lacklustre trade on Tuesday.

However, strong dollar overseas restricted the rise to some extent, a forex dealer said.

The rupee resumed a paisa lower at 60.77 a dollar from last Thursday's close of 60.76 and immediately touched a low of 60.78 only to bounce back on bullish equities following firm global cues triggered by lower crude prices.

It later touched a high of 60.65 before settling at 60.67, a net gain of nine paise or 0.15 per cent. Last Thursday, it has spurted by 45 paise or 0.74 per cent - its best single-day gain in three months.

The Indian benchmark S&P Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) Sensex on Tuesday extended its gains for the sixth session in a row and closed up by 29.71 points or 0.11 per cent while FIIs injected Rs 473.42 crore last Thursday as per provisional data with stock exchanges.

In Asia on Monday, US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for September delivery was trading below US $97 while Brent Crude for October was quoting belos US $102 a barrel on easing concerns about conflicts in Ukraine and Iraq.

Mr. Pramit Brahmbhatt, Veracity Group CEO said,"Rupee continues to appreciate taking cues from the record breaking local equities backed by the FIIs buying. Positive sentiments in the market formed by the recent better than expected data released from different countries boosted the global stock markets. The trading range for the Spot USD/INR pair is expected to be within 60.30 to 61.10."

In the forward market, premium inched up on stray payments from banks and corporates.

The benchmark six-month premium payable in January edged up to 228-230 paise from 227-231 paise previously. Far-forward contracts maturing in July, 2015 also ended small gain at 474-476 paise from 473-475 paise.

The Reserve Bank of India fixed the reference rate for dollar at 60.7260 and for the euro at 81.0432.

The rupee remained firm against the pound to 100.97 from 101.34 last Thursday and improved further to 59.10 per 100 Japanese yen from 59.34. It also rallied to 80.99 against the euro from previous close of 81.27.