Rupee up 61 paise, ends at 54.84 vs US dollar

Tracking a steep rise in local stocks, the rupee on Thursday sharply appreciated by 61 paise, its biggest gain in two months, to end at 54.84 helped by capital inflows worth nearly $300 million and sustained dollar sales by exporters.

Weak dollar overseas and rising hopes of government being able to push through reforms helped rupee rise, said dealers.

At the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market, the domestic unit opened lower at 55.55 a dollar from Tuesday's close of 55.45 and immediately touched a low of 55.61 on early hesitance in stocks.

However, later it bounced back to a high of 54.76 before settling at nearly two-week high of 54.84 - a rise of 61 paise or 1.10 per cent. Previously, it had finished at 54.70 on November 15, 2012.

"Inflows from telecom sector, sentiment booster from the global markets and the expected positive developments on the FDI front helped rupee soar," said Ashtosh Raina, Head Forex Trading, HDFC Bank.

The logjam in Parliament over FDI in retail ended on Thursday with a discussion on the issue allowed with voting.

FIIs pumped in around $300 million (or Rs 1,580 crore) in Indian stocks, as per provisional data with bourses.

The dollar index was down by 0.22 per cent against a basket of six major currencies as investors yesterday heard optimism from Washington about budget talks that could allow the US economy to avert tax hikes and spending cuts.