Mumbai: In line with the equity market, the rupee firmed up further against the American currency for the second consecutive week, surging by 77 paise to close at 8-week high at 64.74 on persistent selling of dollars by banks and exporters on renewed foreign capital inflows.
Weakness of dollars in the overseas market also boosted the rupee value against the American currency, a forex dealer said. The rupee opened higher at 65.25 as against the last weekend's level of 65.51 at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market.
It hovered in the range of 64.72 and 65.44 during the week, before concluding at 64.74 per dollar, showing a gain of 77 paise or 1.18 per cent. It has gained 142 paise or 2.15 per cent in the two weeks.
The foreign portfolio investors pumped in USD 197.25 million dollars during the first four days of the week, as per SEBI's record. The Sensex rose 858.56 points or 3.27 per cent to close at 27,079.51.
In New York, the US dollar hit multi-week lows against the euro and Swiss franc on Friday, the day after Minutes from the Federal Reserve's September meeting bolstered expectations for a later interest rate hike, while growth-linked currencies.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, was set for its second straight week of losses after the Minutes focused on external factors depressing the outlook for inflation.
In the forward market, the premium ended mixed due to bouts of demand and supply transactions. Forward dollar premium payable in March slipped at 199-201 paise from last weekend's level of 202-204 paise on receipts from exporters while far-forward contracts maturing in September 2016 ended higher at 414.5-416.5 paise as against 406-408 paise previously, on fresh paying pressure from corporates.
The RBI fixed the reference rate for the dollar at 64.7848 and the Euro at 73.0837 from last weekend's level of 65.5540 and 73.0796, respectively.
The rupee dipped against the pound to end the week at 99.34 from last weekend's level of 99.23 and also fell against the euro to 73.56 from 73.09. The domestic unit however, gained further against the Japanese currency to finish at 53.59 per 100 yen from last weekend's level of 54.71.
