Rupee inches up 2 paise in late morning trade

The Indian rupee moved up marginally by 2 paise to 44.68/69 per US dollar in late morning trade today on mild selling of the American currency by some banks despite dollar firmness in overseas market.

The rupee resumed slightly lower at 44.71/72 per dollar at the Interbank Foreign Exchange as against yesterday's close of 44.70/71 and moved down further to 44.75 on good dollar demand from banks.

However, the domestic unit recovered immediately to 44.64 per dollar before quoting at 44.68/69 at 1030 hours.

In New York, the greenback rose against the euro and other major currencies yesterday after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke indicated there would not be a further round of quantitative easing.

His comments, out late Tuesday, had weighed on the dollar in the direct aftermath of the speech. But as global equities and commodities also sold off in reaction, investors moved to the dollar and other currencies viewed as safe havens.