Rupee gains by 44 paise in early trade

Mumbai, Jan 14: The rupee gained by 44 paise against the greenback in late morning trade on Wednesday, Jan 14 due to heavy dollar selling by banks on the back of a sharp rise in equity markets.

In active trade at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (forex) market, the domestic currency resumed at Rs 48.95/97 a dollar against its previous close of Rs 49.12/14 and firmed up further to Rs 48.68/70 at 1030 hrs, showing a gain of 44 paise over what it ended at on Tuesday, Jan 13.

Dealer said the rupee also drew support from a rally in equity markets as well as an absence of dollar demand from oil refiners. World oil prices were higher in Asian trade on Wednesday, in reaction to OPEC's comments that the cartel was prepared for "further measures" to shore up the market, analysts said.

OneIndia News (With inputs from Agencies)