Rupee gains 17 paise, stocks offer support

The rupee appreciated further as it rose by 17 paise to over a three-week high of 67.68 against the US currency on sustained bouts of dollar selling from banks and exporters amid firm domestic equities.
The rupee resumed higher at 67.74 from yesterday's closing level of 67.85 at the Interbank Foreign Exchange Market (Forex) here today.
It advanced further to 67.58 before quoting at 67.68 at 1109 hours.
The domestic unit moved in a range of 67.76 and 67.58 during the morning trade.
Meanwhile, the dollar index was up by 0.06 per cent at 98.39 against a basket of six currencies in early trade.

Overseas, the US dollar was trading mixed while the Japanese yen nursed broad losses in early Asian trade after encouraging US factory and construction data, which offered hope that the economy is pacing up.

In the forward market, premium for dollar weakened further
due to sustained receivings from exporters.
The benchmark six-month premium for May dropped to 128-130 paise from 132-134 paise and the far-forward November 2017 contract also slipped to 272-274 paise from 278-280 paise yesterday.
Meanwhile, domestic benchmark indices posted a sharp fall for the second day following across the board selling, impacted by rallying crude prices and subdued global sentiment ahead of key US macro data.

The flagship Sensex tanked by a whopping 329.26 points to close at 26,230.66 while the broader Nifty fell 106.10 points to 8,086.80.
On the global commodity front, crude prices traded little changed after a very sharp upmove overnight ahead of the US rig count amid doubts over Russia-OPEC deal.
Crude prices staged a spectacular rally and reclaimed the USD 50 a barrel mark after OPEC members agreed on curbing supply amid softening of prices.
Brent crude, the international benchmark, is modestly down 0.70 per cent to USD 53.22 a barrel.