The rupee made a smart recovery against the US currency after a three-day straight fall and ended higher by 16 paise at 67.29 on fresh bouts of dollar selling by banks and exporters.
A sharp rebound in local equity markets along with robust capital inflows also supported the domestic unit amid weakness of the greenback in overseas markets.
The rupee resumed marginally higher at 67.42 against previous close of 67.45 at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market following smooth supply of dollar. It strengthened further to hit an intra-day high of 67.20 before concluding at 67.29, revealing a gain of 16 paise, or 0.24 per cent.
The domestic currency had lost 42 paise against the dollar in three-day slide.
Meanwhile, the RBI fixed the reference rate for the dollar at 67.2533 and euro at 75.3035.
In cross-currency trades, the rupee remained firm against the pound sterling at 97.23 compared to 97.37 earlier, while ended virtually steady against the euro at 75.30.
However, it continued to decline against the yen and finished at 61.76 per 100 yens from 61.
In cross-currency trades, the rupee slumped further
against the pound sterling to close at 83.91 from 83.48 and softened against the Japanese Yen to settle at 58.11 per 100 yens from 58.10 previously.
The home unit, however, recovered against the euro to finish at 71.50 from 71.64.
On the equity front, the benchmark Sensex dropped by 31.01 points to close at 26,595.45, while the broader Nifty lost over 6 points to settle at 8,179.50.
In the forward market, premium for dollar showed a mixed trend in the absence of any market moving factors.
The benchmark six-month premium for June was quoted at 147.5-149.5 paise from 147.5-149 paise, while the far-forward December 2017 contract moved down to 290.5-292.5 paise from 292-294 paise earlier.
