Monday, June 12 2006 12:26 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Mumbai: The Rupee today (June 12, 2006) appreciated sharply against the US currency during morning dealings on the back of heavy dollar sales by foreign banks coupled with heavy dollar inflows into the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market.

In active trade in the Forex market here, the Indian unit opened better at Rs 45.93/95 per dollar and later strengthened to Rs 45.86/87 a dollar in late morning deals. It had closed at Rs 45.9575/9650 per dollar last weekend.

Foreign banks were seen selling the dollar heavily this morning, a leading forex dealer said adding, "There is a lot of dollar inflow in the market".

The Forex market, however, discounted a sharp fall in equity this morning. The stock markets fell sharply by about 220 points in the first 30 minutes of trade.