Mumbai (PTI): Moving in tandem with stock markets, the Indian rupee on Friday closed stronger by 24 paise to close at sub-49 level against the greenback.
Traders in foreign exchange said the rupee sentiment was aided by recovery in Asian indices including the Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex which jumped nearly 277 points on Friday. Weak dollar against its major rivals in the overseas markets also boosted the the domestic unit, they added.
At the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market, the local unit resumed higher at 48.79/80 from overnight close of 49.03/05.
It moved in a narrow range before settling the day near its opening level of 48.79/81 a dollar.
One-month offshore non-deliverable forward contracts was also down at 49.03/13, weaker than the onshore spot rate.
Rupee observers, however, said the local unit is likely weaken in coming days as fresh capital outflows are expected.
Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India fixed the reference rate for the US dollar at Rs 48.77 and for the Single European Currency at Rs 64.71.
The rupee premiums on the forward dollar ended barely steady.
The benchmark six-month forward dollar premium payable in June ended at 51-1/2-53-1/2 paise from 51-53 paise on Thursday and the far-forwards maturing in December closed at 83-1/2-85-1/2 paise from 82-84 paise previously.
In cross-currency trade, the rupee moved down further against the pound sterling and the euro while recovered against the Japanese yen.
The domestic currency dropped against the pound sterling to end the day at Rs 72.81/83 per pound from last close of Rs 71.56/58 per pound.
Source : The Hindu