Rupee rises by 6 paise on fresh dollar selling

The rupee rose by 6 paise to close at Rs44.72/73 against the US currency on fresh selling of dollars by banks and corporates, in view of a global weak trend.
    
The dollar gave up some of its recent gains against the euro in Asian trading today as investors fretted less about the possibility that Greece would withdraw from the euro zone.
    
"USD/INR had higher opening by 10 paise at Rs44.68. During the day, it traded bearishly and hit a high of Rs44.62 and low of Rs44.70. Equity markets traded flat and closed just above the Friday's close," Alpari Forex (India) CEO Pramit Brahmbhatt said.
    
"GBP & Euro's gain supported rupee to trade stronger against the dollar, but the payments for oil imports and flat local equities capped the gain of rupee. Looking at the weak dollar, USD/INR pair is expected to appreciate & trade below Rs44.50 levels in coming days," he added.
    
In active trade at the Interbank Foreign Exchange, the local unit opened higher at Rs44.64/65 per dollar as against last weekend's level of Rs44.78/79 per dollar and hovered in a range of Rs44.63 and Rs44.76 per dollar before ending the day at Rs44.72/73 per dollar.
    
Meanwhile, crude oil was higher in Asian trade today, reclaiming some of the ground it lost in sharp sell-offs last week. New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in June, rose USD to USD 100.57 a barrel.
    
The rupee premium for the forward dollar closed steady to better on stray paying pressure from banks and corporates. The benchmark 6-month forward dollar premium payable in October finished higher at 145-146 paise from last Friday's close of 143-1/2-145 paise.
    
However, far-forward contracts maturing in April ended stable at 291-293 paise. The RBI has fixed the reference rate for the dollar at Rs44.70 and the euro at Rs64.43.
    
The rupee moved up further against the pound sterling to end at Rs73.20/22 from last Friday's close of Rs73.52/54 and firmed up against the euro to end at Rs64.38/40 from Rs65.00/02 in the previous session.
    
It, also hardened against the Japanese yen to Rs55.39/41 per 100 yen from last close of Rs55.80/82.