Rupee Rises To 39.51 A Dollar

The rupee on Dec 19 strengthened by three paise to 39.51/52 against the US currency on the back of sharp recovery in equity markets and sustained dollar selling by exporters despite heavy capital outflows. In active trade at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market, the domestic unit opened sharply higher at 39.46/47 a dollar from Tuesday''s close of 39.54/55.

Dealers attributed initial smart recovery of the rupee to firm stock markets where the benchmark Sensex was up by over 318 points in morning deals. Sustained dollar sales by exporters also aided the rupee sentiment.But some dollar demand from oil refiners to meet their import requirements weighed on the rupee and it fell back moderately to quote at 39.51/52 a dollar, still up by three paise over previous close. Meanwhile, the global crude oil prices hovered above $90 a barrel in Asian trade on De 19 morning.