The domestic currency has gained by four paise or 0.06 per cent in two days.
The rupee on Wednesday ended almost flat as it gained one paisa to 68.57 against the US dollar on fag-end selling of American currency by banks and exporters.
The domestic unit resumed lower at 68.65 per dollar as against Tuesday’s closing level of 68.58 at the Interbank Foreign Exchange market and moved down further to 68.66 on initial dollar demand from banks and importers in view of foreign capital outflows amidst fall in equities.
However, it recovered from initial losses to 68.49 before ending at 68.57 per dollar, showing a gain of mere one paise or one per cent.
The domestic currency has gained by four paise or 0.06 per cent in two days.
It hovered in a range of 68.49 and 68.66 during the days.
The dollar index was up 0.39 per cent against a basket of six currencies in the later afternoon trade.
At Asian trade, yen gained against key peers like the dollar and euro today as sagging stocks and crude oil drove bids for the safe-haven currency.
In London, the British pound sank to a seven-year low today, as the prospect of the UK leaving the European Union continued to drag down the currency.
Sterling fell against the dollar to 1.3892, a level not seen since early 2009. The pound hasn't spent a sustained period below $1.40 since the mid-1980s.
The decline came amid fresh predictions of a plunge for the UK currency if British voters opt to quit the EU in a referendum in June.
Pramit Brahmbhatt of Veracity Financial Services said, "To start the day, the rupee opened on a weaker note, taking cues from equity market. As in domestic equity market we saw restless selling continuing. But despite of pessimism prevailed in equity market, we saw marginal recovery in rupee during the later part of the day. To end the day, rupee closed with a negligible gain of one paisa at 68.57 levels.”
Trading range for spot USD/INR pair is expected to be within 68.20 to 68.75 levels.
The benchmark Sensex dropped further by 321.25 points or 1.37 per cent today.
In forward market, premium for dollar showed steady to better trend in view of mild paying pressure from corporates.
The benchmark six-month premium July closed unchanged at 196-198 paise and far forward January 2017 contract moved up to 416-418 paise from 414-416 paise.
The RBI fixed the reference rate for the dollar at 68.5750 and for the euro at 75.4695.
In cross-currency trades, the rupee moved up further against the pound sterling to finish at 95.21 from 96.75 yesterday and also firmed up against the euro at 75.26 as against 75.46 previously.
However, the domestic unit dropped further against yen to finish at 61.34 per 100 yen from 61.18.
