The Indian rupee advanced further by 18 paise to 44.41 against the American currency in morning trade today on persistent selling of dollars by exporters and banks in view of sustained foreign capital inflows into the equity market, coupled with dollar weakness overseas.
In active trade at the Interbank Foreign Exchange, the local unit opened higher at 44.44/45 per dollar as against last weekend's level of 44.59/60 per dollar and firmed up further to 44.41 per dollar before quoting at 44.45/46 per dollar at 1030 hours.
It moved in a range between 44.41 and 44.50 in morning deals.
Exporters and banks preferred to reduce their dollar position due to heavy capital inflows from foreign funds in recent days, a forex dealer said.
The Indian benchmark Sensex declined marginally by 39 points, or 0.20%, in early trade after hitting a three-month high.
The US dollar fell for the fifth straight day yesterday in the New York market, touching a five-month low against the euro, as investors awaited this week's meetings of key monetary policy makers.
