Mumbai: The rupee climbed 36 paise to a three-week high of 62.14 against the dollar on Wednesday after banks and exporters sold the US currency as it weakened overseas.
The rupee resumed higher at 62.45 per dollar from the previous close of 62.50 at the interbank foreign exchange market and firmed up further to end at 62.14, a gain of 36 paise or 0.57 per cent.
It was the highest close for the rupee since 61.62 on November 5. The local currency ended unchanged on Tuesday.
Bankers and exporters reduced their dollar positions due to the currency's weakness overseas, a forex dealer said.
The dollar slipped against the euro on Wednesday, ahead of economic data before Thanksgiving Day. Releases scheduled include durable goods orders, the Chicago purchasing managers' index and consumer sentiment numbers.
"Apart from strong euro and a slight weakness in the US dollar, the rupee was getting support from dollar selling by banks. Yesterday's economic reports out from the US were quite mixed, with consumer confidence tumbling and the housing market showing a recovery," said Abhishek Goenka, CEO of India Forex Advisors.
Local equities closed near yesterday's close but the rupee appreciated, taking cues from the dollar index, which traded weak for the fifth consecutive day ahead of Thursday's Thanksgiving Day holiday, said Pramit Brahmbhatt, CEO of Alpari Financial Services (India). Later today, data on weekly US jobless claims is due, he said.
The benchmark Sensex ended at 20,420.26, down 4.76 points.
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