Rupee up 16 paise versus US dollar in early trade

Mumbai, Feb 17 (PTI) The Indian rupee was up by 16 paiseat 45.36 per US dollar in early trade today amid sustaineddollar-selling by banks and corporates and greenback weaknessoverseas.

At the Interbank Foreign Exchange, the domestic unitopened higher at 45.45/46 per dollar against Tuesday''s closeof 45.52/53 per dollar and moved up further to 45.36 perdollar before quoting at 45.41/42 per dollar at 1030 hours.

The rupee moved in a range between 45.36 and 45.50 perdollar in morning deals.

Sustained selling of dollars by banks and corporates dueto dollar weakness in overseas markets mainly boosted therupee sentiment, a forex dealer said.

Meanwhile, oil surged past USD 104 in Asian in earlytrade today as inflamed geopolitical tensions in the MiddleEast drove crude supply concerns, analysts said.

However, the Indian benchmark Sensex was trading lowerby 17.90 points, or 0.10 per cent, in early trade today. PTISBP RRC DK ARV