Rupee gains 64 paise vs dollar

The local currency was also aided by a sharp fall in the dollar overseas. At the International Foreign Exchange (Forex) market, the domestic unit resumed strong at 51.15/16 a dollar, but immediately hit a low of 51.25 on some dollar demand from importers.

However, it bounced back to a high of 50.70 before concluding at 50.73/74, a net rise of 1.25 per cent. In straight four days of trading, the rupee has flared up by 117 paise, or 2.25 per cent. Meanwhile, the BSE benchmark Sensex shot up by nearly 277 points, or 1.71 per cent, continuing a rise for the third trading day in a row. "After opening higher rupee shot up on positive sentiment in the global markets and better than expected Chinese Q4 GDP data today leading to good recovery in the stock markets," India Forex Advisors CEO Abhishek Goenka said.

"Euro is trading positive after better French bond auction yesterday and better German ZEW Economic Sentiment data today," he added. The dollar index was down by over 0.7 per cent against a basket of currencies, while New York crude oil was trading below USD 101 a barrel in European market today. Sustained buying by FIIs in equities too aided the rupee opinion. The rupee premium for the forward dollar ended with hardly any changes. The benchmark six-month forward dollar premium payable in June closed with its overnight level of 164-166 paise while far-forward contracts maturing in December settled a tad higher at 277-279 paise from 276-278 paise.