Rupee recovers sharply by 48 paise to 50.70/71 vs dollar

The Indian rupee today recovered sharply by 48 paise to close at 50.70/71 against the greenback following firm equity markets amid a weak dollar overseas.

In active trade at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market, the domestic unit opened higher at 51.03/05 from its previous close of 51.18/19 and improved further to close at 50.70/71 a dollar, a rise of 0.94 per cent.

It moved in a range of 50.63 and 51.20 a dollar during the day.

Yesterday, the rupee had plunged by a whopping 60 paise or 1.19 per cent.

Dealers attributed recovery in the rupee to a rally in equity markets. The Indian benchmark Sensex ended higher by over 140 points or 1.47 per cent after yesterday's fall of 480 points.

Besides China, other Asian indices ended in the green.

A weak dollar overseas against its major rivals amid expectations of increased capital inflows after recovery in local equity markets also supported the rupee rise.

Meanwhile, global crude oil prices remained below $50 a barrel in Asian trade today.