The rupee was trading strong by 32 paise at 61.74 against the dollar at 4.04 p.m. local time.
The rupee sentiment was boosted due to fresh capital inflows into the domestic equity market as exit polls predicted BJP winning four out of the five State Assemblies in the recently concluded Assembly elections in four states.
The domestic unit gained 26 paise to 61.80 per dollar in the opening trade against the previous close of 62.06.
Also, the follow-on-public offer of Power Grid Corporation triggered inflows into the equity market. The issue is open till Thursday for institutional buyers and it will close a day later for retail investors.
Treasury officials said that the rupee is likely to remain in the 61-63 per dollar range on concerns of uncertainty over the US Fed’s decision to roll back its monetary stimulus and the upcoming election results.
The domestic unit is supported by higher-than-expected GDP growth and a more benign current account deficit, though dollar demand by oil marketing companies in the market is likely to limit the gains.
Call rates, G-secs
The inter-bank call money rate, the rate at which banks borrow from each other to meet their short-term requirements, opened lower at 7 per cent against the previous close of 7.10 per cent.
The 7.16 per cent benchmark government security, which matures in 2023, opened higher at Rs 88.05 from Rs 87.82. Yields on the security softened to 9.06 per cent from 9.09 per cent.
