The rupee was quoted steady against the US currency at 49.68/69 in late morning trade after opening weak, as expectations of a fresh set of monetary measures by the Reserve Bank to beat the liquidity crunch influenced sentiments.
In fairly wide movements at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (forex) market, the domestic currency hit a low of 49.81 a $ immediately after resuming lower at 49.70/72.
The rupee, however, bounced back to 49.68/69 a $ in late morning deals on the back of a rally in local stocks and strong possibility of rate cut by the RBI.
The rupee had lost 33 paise to close at 49.67/69 a $ yesterday on sustained capital outflows from equity markets.
Forex dealers said hopes of fresh monetary steps strengthened after the government yesterday imposed import duty on iron/steel products and crude soyabean oil and hinted at slashing excise duties.