Rupee rebounds 17 paise to 67.82 on weak dollar

The rupee today staged a smart rebound by recovering 17 paise to 67.82 against the American currency on fresh dollar selling by corporates and banks.

Subdued overseas sentiment alongside unwinding of long dollar positions ahead of key US macro data predominantly gave some significant support to the rupee recovery.

Stable local equities after recent steep fall also helped the domestic unit strengthen against the dollar, a dealer said.

Meanwhile, Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) continued to sell both equities and debt as they offloaded worth Rs 614.40 crore yesterday, as per provisional data.

The Indian currency opened on a firm footing at 67.93 from Thursday's close of 67.99 at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market and maintained its firm undertone against the dollar.

It gained further ground to hit an intra-day high of 67.77 before ending at 66.82, showing a smart rise of 17 paise, or 0.25 per cent.

On Thursday, the local currency had depreciated by 8 paise.

In overseas trade, the greenback surrendered the gains made after release of mildly upbeat US GDP, which was revised higher to 3.5 per cent from 3.2 per cent, and largely traded broadly flat against majority of its peers.

Investors' also stayed away ahead of Christmas holidays overseas.

The US dollar index was trading lower at 102.99 in late afternoon trade.

Meanwhile, the RBI today fixed the reference rate for the dollar at 67.9117 and euro at 70.9474.

In cross-currency trades, the rupee rose further to finish at 83.22 against the pound sterling from 83.84 and bounced back against the euro to settle at 70.87 as compared to 71.15.

It also recouped against the Japanese yen to end at 57.79 from 57.84 per 100 yens earlier.