Rupee closes 26 paise higher at 66.22

The domestic currency has already dropped 44 paise, or 0.67%, in the previous two sessions

Snapping its a two-day losing streak, the rupee on Tuesday recovered by 26 paise to close at 66.22 against the dollar on fresh selling of the greenback by banks and exporters in abroad markets amidst a fall in equities.

The rupee opened higher at 66.38 against Monday's closing level of 66.48 at the forex market and hovered in a range of 66.18 and 66.46 before concluding at 66.22, gain of 26 paise or 0.39 per cent.

The domestic currency has already dropped 44 paise, or 0.67 per cent, in the previous two sessions.

The US dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, was down by 0.40 per cent.

In the Tokyo market, the dollar slumped against the yen today, as a fresh bout of weakness in global stock markets following weak Chinese data sent investors scurrying to the perceived safety of the Japanese currency.

"Investors are still keeping their eyes on the stock market," said Kyosuke Suzuki, the head of the foreign-exchange and money-market sales department at Societe Generale in Tokyo.

Meanwhile, the benchmark BSE Sensex dropped 586.65 points, or 2.23 per cent, to settle at 25,696.44 today.