Mumbai, Jan 19 (PTI) The Indian rupee today trimmed its early gains to end the day stronger by only nine paise at 48.70/71 against the greenback amid lacklustre activity in stock markets.
Dealers at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (forex) market said dull trade in stock markets, where the benchmark Sensex closed higher by a marginal 6 points, cut the gains posted by the local currency. Fears of capital outflows arrested the rupee's surge which had opened higher by 15 paise.
They said exporters sold dollars in lacklustre activity in view of a holiday in US today. Demand for dollar from oil refiners was also low despite lower global oil prices which hovered around USD 36 a barrel level in Asian trade. At the same time, exporters were seen selling dollars amid worries about erratic local stocks.
The domestic currency also drew support from weakness in the dollar in overseas markets.
Foreign institutional investors have pulled out nearly USD 400 million from equities in the first fortnight of the currency calendar year.
The capital outflows amounted to a record USD 13 billion during last year which has seen the local currency weakening to all-time low of over Rs 50 against a US dollar.
The Reserve Bank of India, however, fixed the reference rate for the US dollar at Rs 46.56 and for the Single European Currency at Rs 64.82. PTI
Source : Press Trust Of India