The Indian rupee improved further by 17 paise to end at five-month high of 52.85 against the greenback following firm local equities amid sustained capital inflows.
Continued dollar selling by exporters and some banks amid weak dollar overseas also helped the rupee to rally for the second day in a row.
At the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market, the domestic unit resumed remarkably higher at 52.73 a dollar from previous close of 53.02 and touched a high of 52.49 in late morning deals on firm local stocks.
However, month-end dollar demand from importers, mainly oil refiners, later weighed on the rupee and it fell back to a low of 52.90 before concluding at five-month high of 52.85, still showing a rise of 17 paise or 0.32 pct. Yesterday, it had spurted by 49 paise or 0.92 pct. Previously, the rupee had settled at 52.73 on April 30, 2012.
The Indian benchmark
Sensex rose 183.24 points or 0.99 per cent while Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) injected $118.46 million on Thursday, taking a total to $3.56 billion in the current month till September 27, as per Sebi data, which mainly supported the rupee.
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