Rupee rallies by 36 paise to 50.34/35 vs dollar

Mumbai, Apr 2 (PTI) With the sharp rise in equity marketsand expectations of more capital inflows, the Indian rupeetoday rallied further by 36 paise to close at 50.34/35 againstthe greenback. In quiet trade at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex)market, the local currency opened higher at 50.30/32 a dollaragainst its previous close of 50.70/71 and ended at 50.34/35.On March 31, it was up by 48 paise. The rupee moved in a narrow range of 50.24 and 50.42 adollar. Mainly the continued rally at the equity marketssupported the rupee as the Sensex today closed sharply up by447 points or 4.51 per cent. In straight three sessions ofrally, it jumped by 780.69 points or 8.16 per cent. Asian indices also ended in the green, gaining between0.72 per cent and 7.41 per cent on the back of Wall Streetgoing up yesterday due to expectations of an early recoveryin the US economy, which showed improvements in manufacturingand housing data. Fresh capital inflows on April 1, after a couple of daysof sell-off, as per provisional figures, also boosted marketsentiment. A weak dollar in Asian trade today against its majorrivals also helped the rupee rally. After declining continuously for two months, inflationrose marginally to 0.31 per cent for the week ended March 21as against 0.27 per cent for the preceding weekend, givingheadroom to the RBI to cut rates in its monetary policy slatedfor April 21. The Reserve Bank of India, however, fixed the referencerate for the dollar at Rs 50.30 and the euro at Rs 66.90. The rupee premiums on the forward dollar remained weak onheavy receivings by exporters. The benchmark six-month forward dollar premium payable inSeptember ended lower at 68-70 paise from 77-79 paise onWednesday and far-forwards maturing in March also closed downat 107-109 paise from 119-121 paise previously. In cross-currency trade, the rupee reacted downwardsagainst the pound sterling while improved further against theeuro and the Japanese yen. The domestic unit fell against the pound sterling toend the day at Rs 73.75/77 from its previous close of Rs72.55/57 while firmed up against the euro to Rs 67.15/17from the previous close of Rs 67.48/50. It also shot up against the Japanese yen to Rs 50.65/67per 100 yen from the previous close of Rs 51.52/54.PTI