Mumbai, Feb 29: The rupee today rose by six paise to settle at 49.01/02 against the US dollar on sustained selling of the American currency by exporters amid gains in local stocks.
Forex dealers said renewed capital inflows also helped the rupee sentiment, while firm dollar overseas capped it to certain extent.
The local unit moved between 48.83 and 49.03 at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market before settling higher by six paise at 49.01/02. It had gained 15 paise yesterday.
Meanwhile, the BSE benchmark index Sensex today closed modestly up by 21.56 points at 17,752.68.
FIIs, after selling over USD 110 million on February 27, bought shares worth USD 174.29 million yesterday, as per Sebi data, which also helped the local unit to rise.
The dollar index was up by 0.14 per cent against a basket of currencies while New York crude oil was trading below USD 107 a barrel in European market today.
The rupee premium for the forward dollar remained weak on sustained receivings by exporters.
The benchmark six-month forward dollar premium payable in August settled down at 180-182 paise from last close of 183-185 paise and far-forward contracts maturing in February also finished weak at 306-308 paise from 309-311 paise.
The RBI has fixed the reference rate for the US dollar at 48.9408 and for euro at 65.9375.
The rupee reacted downwards against the pound sterling to end at Rs 78.08/10 from previous close of Rs 77.73/75 while improved further against the euro to Rs 65.83/85 from Rs 65.95/97.
It also moved up further slightly against the Japanese to Rs 60.89/91 per 100 yen from last close of Rs 60.95/97.
