The rupee today appreciated by 37 paise to close at the one-week high of 48.95/96 against the US currency in line with sharp rise in local equities.
Fresh dollar selling by exporters amid sustained weakness in the US currency overseas and increased capital inflows also boosted the rupee sentiment, dealers said.
In fairly active trade at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market, the local unit opened better at 49.28/29 a dollar from previous close of 49.32/33 and immediately touched a low of 49.4750.
However, dollar selling by exporters on hopes of further fall in dollar value overseas as also strong rally in stocks helped the rupee bounce back to a high of 48.93, before ending at 48.95/96. Yesterday, it had tumbled by 35 paise.
The BSE benchmark Sensex today shot up by nearly 422 points, or 2.55%, to settle at three-week high on good second quarter results by IT bellwether, Infosys Tech.
Pramit Brahmbhatt, CEO, Alpari Financial Services (India) said, "Rupee appreciated by 0.75% against the dollar, as local equities closed up by over two-and-a-half%. Globally Dollar also weakened against major currencies mainly against Euro which helped Rupee to perform."
"Next support for the USD-INR pair is at 48.70 and the trading range for the USD/INR will be 48.50 to 49.50 tomorrow," he added.
The dollar index, a measure of six major currencies, was down by nearly 0.8% while New York crude oil was trading above $86 a barrel in European market today.