Mumbai, Sept 18: The rupee today recouped initial losses on fag-end dollar selling and nearly USD 190 million of capital inflows to close flat at 54.01 in choppy trade. At the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market, the rupee resumed lower at 54.18 a dollar from previous close of 54.01.
It dropped further to a low of 54.37 on dollar demand from importers, mainly oil refiners, and some hesitancy in local stock market. A firm dollar overseas also weighed on the rupee in initial stages, forex dealers said.
The sentiment turned in favour of the rupee with late dollar selling by exporters amid continued heavy capital inflows, they added.
The rupee bounced back to day's high of 53.96, before settling at its overnight closing level of 54.01. FIIs, which have pumped USD 1.48 billion in previous nine trading days since September 6, pumped in around Rs 1,049 crore (approx. USD 190 million) today as per provisional data on stock exchanges.
In past two days, the rupee had risen by 142 paise or 2.56 per cent.
“The rupee was seen trading range bound with immense volatility. The sudden gain against the dollar could to attributed to heavy dollar selling in the local market. The Euro was seen drifting lower while dollar index recovered slightly,” said Abhishek Goenka, Founder & CEO, India Forex Advisors.
Meanwhile, the Indian stock market benchmark Sensex today snapped its nine-day long gaining trned and closed down by over 46 points.
