Rupee rises for 3rd session; up 18 paise Vs dollar

MUMBAI: The rupee rose for the third straight session on Monday appreciating further by 18 paise to close at the one-week high of 48.97/98 against the US currency on strong equities and sustained dollar selling by exporter.

Sluggish dollar overseas amid fresh capital inflows too helped the rupee surge, a dealer said.

Sustained dollar selling by exporters and some banks on expectations of further fall in dollar overseas on allaying fears of euro-zone crisis helped the rupee.

At the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market, the domestic unit opened higher at 49.05/06 a dollar from last weekend's close of 49.15/16 and immediately touched a day's low of 49.14 in line with weak equities.

However, it bounced back and rallied to a high of 48.90 before settling at 48.97/98, showing a rise of 0.37 per cent.

The BSE benchmark Sensex spurted by 324.69 points or 2.00 per cent today, mainly supporting the rupee.

"Indian Rupee appreciated by almost 0.4 per cent against the Dollar, as local equities closed up by two per cent. Globally Dollar also weakened against major currencies mainly against EURO which helped Rupee to perform," Pramit Brahmbhatt, CEO, Aplari Financial Services (India) said.

"Next support for the USDINR pair is at 48.75 and the trading range for the USD/INR will be 48.70 to 49.60 tomorrow," he added.