The rupee extended gains for the second straight session against the US currency by firming up 21 paise to close at 64.82 a dollar on sustained selling of greenback by banks and exporters amid persistent foreign capital inflows into the equity market.
Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 121.75 crore (Rs 1.21 billion) on Wednesday, as per provisional data released by the stock exchanges.
The rupee resumed sharply higher at 64.75 per dollar as against the yesterday's closing level of 65.03 at the Interbank Foreign Exchange market.
It strengthened further on persistent bouts of dollar selling by exporters to 64.71 before finishing at 64.82 per dollar, showing a gain of 21 paise or 0.33 per cent.
The domestic currency has gained 36 paise or 0.55 per cent in two days.
The domestic unit hovered in a range of 64.87 and 64.71 during the day.
The US dollar plunged to around seven-week lows against a basket of currencies in early Asian trade, after weak US retail sales data reinforced hopes of delay in hike of interest rates by the US Federal Reserve.
Pramit Brahmbhatt, Veracity Group CEO, said, "Today the rupee appreciated over quarter per cent for the day taking cues from strong local equities which closed on a high note as positive sentiments created by the disappointing US data which increased the probability of delay in Fed interest rate hike".
The US dollar is also trading weak against other major currencies which further helped the rupee to close at 64.82.
The trading range for the Spot USD/INR pair is expected to be within 64.40 to 65.20.
Meanwhile, the benchmark BSE Sensex recovered by 230.48 points or 0.86 per cent to close at 27,010.14.
In forward market today, premium for dollar ended lower on fresh receivings from exporters.
The benchmark six-month premium payable in March moved down to 190-192 pasie from 193-195 paise and forward Sept 2016 also fell to 404-406 pasie from 407-409 paise.
The RBI fixed the reference rate for the dollar at 64.8240 and for the euro at 74.50.
The rupee dropped further against the pound sterling to finish at 100.38 from 99.89 previously while firmed up further against the against the euro to 74.12 from 74.15.
The domestic currency ended lower against the Japanese currency to close at 54.82 per 100 yen from 54.40.
