Mumbai, October 20: Helped by frenzied capital inflows, the rupee closed stable for the second day today at 44.34/35 against the US currency despite weak domestic equity markets.
In another day of erratic movements at the Interbank Foreign Exchange market, the domestic currency resumed sharply lower at 44.50/51 from yesterday’s close of 44.35/36 a dollar.
Dealers attributed fall in the rupee to initial dollar demand from importers amid some weakness in equities.
Weak dollar overseas after a surprise hike in interest rate by China yesterday too aided the rupee sentiment in early trade. The dollar index, consisting of six major currencies, was down by over 0.5 per cent, after four days of rise, in London in late morning deals.
Later, it recovered to the day’s high of 44.23 on heavy dollar selling by exporters and some banks.
Sustained capital inflows too helped the rupee’s rise.
–Agencies