The Indian rupee strengthened by 22 paise at 48.50 in opening trade today on expectations of increased foreign fund inflows as stock markets may open higher in tandem with firming trends on the other Asian equity markets.
However, dollars' demand from importers capped rupee's gains to some extent.
At the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market, the domestic unit was quoted higher at 48.50 a dollar, a gain of 22 paise over the previous close of 48.72/73. Rupee weakened by 6 paise on Friday despite the firm equity markets.
Meanwhile, the BSE Sensex ended 494.67 points,or 3.47 per cent higher on Friday, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was up 2.25 per cent in morning trade today.
