Wednesday, May 17 2006 12:16 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Mumbai: The Rupee today (May 17, 2006) staged a pull back rally against the US currency on steady trade and FIIs inflows amid renewed dollar weakness with sentiments getting a further boost due to a smart rebound in the equity market.

In cautious early trade at the Interbank Foreign Exchange market, the rupee was quoted at Rs 45.36/37 in late morning deals, sharply higher from Tuesday's close of Rs 45.50/52 per dollar. The Rupee opened distinctly firm at Rs 45.37/39 per dollar.

The domestic unit plunged by over 46 paise in the last two sessions due to sustained heavy dollar demand amid strained supply, trapping the global meltdown.

Exporter dollar sales on the back of a retreating dollar overseas fuelled a sharp pull-back on the rupee rally today with the outlook positive due to falling crude oil prices and a smart rebound in local bourses, a forex dealer said.

The BSE Sensex opened with a wide gap above the 12,000-mark and was quoted at 12,136.19 within 30-minutes of resumption of trade. Global crude oil prices were hovering around US$ 69.60 a barrel in early Asian trade due to easing supply concerns.

Foreign Institutional Investors pulled out a whopping US$162.1 million from the equity market on May 15, the day the market crashed by 463 points in line with the global meltdown.

Meanwhile, the government said FDI inflows during the current fiscal is expected to touch the US$ 10 billion annually. In the last fiscal, inflows grew by 50 per cent to about US$ 8.3 billion against US$ 5.5 billion recorded in 2004-05.

In cross currency trade, the Euro was quoted at Rs 58.40/42, pound sterling at Rs 85.82/84 and a japanese yen (100) at Rs 41.45.48.