Rs rebounds 39p to 61.44 per $

The Indian rupee broke its straight two trading session of sharp fall and bounced back by 39 paise to settle at 61.44 against the greenback on fresh dollar selling by exporters and some banks at higher levels amid weak dollar overseas.

Partial recovery in local stocks also boosted the rupee value while sustained capital outflows tried to cap the rise to some extent, a forex dealer said.

At the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market, the domestic unit commenced higher at 61.70 a dollar from previous close of 61.83 and immediately touched a low of 61.7450 on initial hesitancy in local equities. However, it rebounded on smart rise in domestic shares and fresh dollar selling by exporters and some banks to a high of 61.42 before concluding at 61.44, showing a rise of 39 paise or 0.63 per cent. In last two sessions, it had tumbled by 73 paise or 1.19 per cent.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth $178.45 millon on Thursday and they pulled out $612.74 mln in the current month so far. The dollar index was down by 0.11per cent against its major global rivals. Pramit Brahmbhatt, Veracity Group CEO,’To end the week rupee
appreciated over half percent on last trading day of the week, as local equities closed up by almost half per cent for the day. Although this week rupee posted its fifth weekly fall in six. The trading range for the spot rupee is expected to be within 61.00 to 62.00.’

In forwards market, premium turned positive on fresh payments by some banks and corporates.
The benchmark six-month premium payable in March edged up to 210-212 paise from previous close of 209-211 paise. Far-forward contracts maturing in September, 2015 rose to 433-435 paise from 427-429 paise. The Reserve Bank of India fixed the reference rate for dollar at 61.6165 and for the euro at 78.8938.

The rupee softened further against the pound to 99.00 from last close of 98.88 while recouped to 78.76 per euro from 78.90. It also bounced back to 57.68 per 100 Japanese yen from 58.48.