Rupee continues uptrend; ends 3 paise higher

The currency has gained 29 paise, or 0.44%, in the two days

Rising for the second consecutive day, the rupee closed 3 paise higher at 66.19 against the US dollar today on fag-end selling of the greenback by banks and exporters.

The local currency opened lower at 66.32 as against yesterday's closing level of 66.22 at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market and eased further to 66.33 on initial demand for the American currency from banks and importers on the back of higher dollar in the overseas market.

However, it washed out initial losses and recovered to 66.11 on selling of dollars by exporters before finishing at 66.19, showing a gain of three paise or 0.05 per cent.

The rupee has gained 29 paise, or 0.44 per cent, in the two days.

In the global market, the US dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, was up by 0.33 per cent.

However, the US dollar slumped against its major rivals in late trade yesterday, after a weak reading on Chinese manufacturing activity reignited investors' fears about a sharp slowdown in the world's second-largest economy.

Meanwhile, the benchmark BSE Sensex dropped 242.88 points, or 0.95 per cent, to settle at 25,453.56 today.