Rupee gains by 44 paise in early trade vs dollar

MUMBAI: The rupee gained by 44 paise against the greenback in late morning trade on Wednesday due to heavy dollar selling by banks on the back of a sharp rise in equity markets.

In active trade at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (forex) market, the domestic currency resumed at Rs 48.95/97 a dollar against its previous close of Rs 49.12/14 and firmed up further to Rs 48.68/70 at 1030 hrs, showing a gain of 44 paise over what it ended at on Tuesday.

Dealer said the rupee also drew support from a rally in equity markets as well as an absence of dollar demand from oil refiners.

World oil prices were higher in Asian trade on Wednesday, in reaction to OPEC's comments that the cartel was prepared for "further measures" to shore up the market, analysts said.

New York's main contract, light sweet crude for February delivery, went up $1.27 to USD 39.05 a barrel.

The BSE benchmark Sensex gained 248 points at 1030 hours due to all-round buying here on Wednesday.