Rupee up 58 paise, ends at 54.26 vs US dollar

Continuing its upward rally for the third straight session, the rupee on Friday rose by a whopping 58 paise to hit over three-week high of 54.26 against the US dollar on the back of a sharp rally in the local equities.

Forex dealers said sustained dollar selling by exporters on hopes of further fall in value of the American currency overseas also supported the rupee's rise.

The domestic currency moved in the range of 54.26-54.84 at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market.

Later, it settled at day's high of 54.26, showing a rise of 58 paise, or 1.06 per cent, against its previous close.

In the last three sessions, rupee has gained 147 paise, or 2.64 per cent.

Meanwhile, the BSE benchmark Sensex on Friday spurted by almost 169 points to 19,339.39 on strong capital inflows. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) pumped in a whopping Rs 1,611.43 crore (around $300 million), according to provisional data on bourses.