Rupee firms up further by 3 paise at 54.19/dollar

The Indian rupee firmed up further by three paise to 54.19 against the American currency in the late morning trade on persistent selling of dollars by banks and exporters in view of weakness of dollar overseas.

Sustained capital inflows from foreign funds into equity market also boosted the rupee value against the dollar, a foerx dealer said.

Banks and exporters preferred to reduce their dollar position in view of foreign capital inflows coupled with lower dollar in overseas market.

The rupee resumed higher at 54.15 per dollar as against the last closing level of 54.22 per dollar at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) Market and hovered in a range of 54.15 per dollar and 54.24 per dollar before quoting at 54.19 per dollar at 1040hrs.

In global market, the U.S. Dollar fell against key rivals in the early trade, as investors monitored Japan’s monetary- policy meeting and awaited quarterly growth figures from the U.S.

The ICE dollar index, a measure of the greenback against a basket of six other currencies, fell to 82.576 from 82.813 late Thursday.

Meanwhile, the Indian benchmark Sensex dropped by 75 pts or 0.39% to 19,331.43 at 1040hrs.