The Indian rupee was up by 14 paise at Rs 44.34 per US dollar in early trade today on fresh selling of dollars by banks and exporters amid persistent foreign capital inflows into the equity market.
At the Interbank Foreign Exchange, the domestic unit opened higher at 44.42/43 per dollar as against Wednesday's close of Rs 44.48/49 per dollar and moved up further to Rs 44.34 before quoting at Rs 44.38/39 per dollar at 1030 hours.
It hovered in a range between Rs 44.34 and Rs 44.48 per dollar in morning deals.
Fresh selling of dollars by banks and exporters and firm equity markets mainly boosted the rupee value against the dollar, a forex dealer said.
The US dollar advanced against the euro yesterday as concerns about the debt of European's peripheral countries increased following Moody's downgrade of Portugal.
Meanwhile, crude was up in Asia today on signs that oil demand is picking up in the United States, the world's largest consumer of the commodity, analysts said. New York's main contract, West Texas Intermediate for August delivery, rose 66 cents to $97.31 a barrel.
The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex shot up by 108.54 points, or 0.58%, to 18,835.51 in early trade today.
