Rupee recovers early losses; rises 19 paise to 73.42 on dollar selling

The rupee recovered from early losses to trade higher by 19 paise at 73.42 against the US currency in late morning session Friday on fresh dollar selling by exporters amid easing crude oil prices and a weakening greenback.

Dealers said the Reserve Bank of India's steps to ease liquidity concerns of NBFCs also helped the domestic currency.

At the Interbank Foreign Exchange, the rupee opened lower at 73.62, but soon recovered the lost ground and jumped 19 paise to touch a high of 73.42 on increased selling of the American currency by exporters and banks.

The rupee sentiment also received a boost after a steep fall in Brent crude prices Thursday following a surprise jump in US stockpiles and lingering worries about Chinese growth outlook.

Brent crude prices fell around 1 per cent to near one-month low of $79.29 barrel Thursday. The benchmark oil was trading near $79.45 barrel in early trade.

The dollar index which measures the greenback's strength against a basket of currencies was down 0.05 per cent at 95.67.

On Wednesday, the local currency had ended lower by 13 paise to 73.61 against the US dollar. Forex market remained shut on Thursday on account of "Dussehra".

On a net basis, foreign funds bought shares worth Rs 1.4002 billion, while domestic institutional investors sold shares to the tune of Rs 3.4311 billion Wednesday, provisional data showed.

The benchmark BSE Sensex was trading down 428.96 points or 1.23 per cent at 34,350.62 points.