Rupee Ends Flat at 44.30/31 vs Dollar.

Mumbai: The rupee today ended flat at 44.30/31 against the US currency on alternate bouts of buying and selling amid a stable dollar overseas.

At the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market, the domestic unit opened lower at 44.41/42 a dollar from previous close of 44.31/32 and immediately touched a low of 44.45.

Dealers attributed initial weakness in the rupee to some dollar buying by importers as also overnight rise in New York market.

However, the rupee recovered the losses on late dollar selling by exporters.

Sustained capital inflows too helped the rupee to rebound from the day's low to a high of 44.26 before ending at 44.30/31.

The BSE benchmark index Sensex closed 56.77 points lower at 20,875.71 points.

The dollar index, gauging of six major currencies , was little changed in London today.

Meanwhile, global crude oil was trading above USD 86 a barrel in European market.

The rupee premium for the forward dollar ended steady. The benchmark six-month forward dollar premium payable in April finished stable at 137-139 paise and far-forward contracts maturing in October also at 241-243 paise from their overnight levels.

The Reserve Bank of India has fixed the reference rate for the dollar at Rs 44.39 and the euro at Rs 61.11.

In cross-currency trade, the domestic currency rose against the pound sterling, the Japanese yen and the euro.

The rupee recouped to 71.17/19 against the pound sterling from Tuesday's close of 71.58/60 and also bounced back against yen to Rs 53.89/91 per 100 yen from Rs 54.93/95 previously.

It, however, improved further to Rs 61.04/06 per euro from its last close of Rs 61.66/68.

Source : economictimes.indiatimes.com