Rupee strengthens by 17 paise against dollar

The rupee strengthened by 17 paise to 61.90 against the dollar in late morning trade today amid fresh sales of the US currency by exporters and banks as it weakened overseas and a firm local equity market.
The rupee opened higher at 62 per dollar from yesterday's close of 62.07 at the interbank foreign exchange market. It moved up to 61.87 before quoting at 61.90 at 1045 hours.
In the global market, the dollar slipped ahead of the release of the US jobs report for December. An increase in employment would support the view that the US economy is recovering.

The benchmark 30-share BSE Sensex rose 112.39 points, or 0.54 per cent, to 20,825.76 at 1045 hours, led by Infosys. The country's second-largest software services firm posted a 21.4 per cent increase in third-quarter profit from a year earlier.