The Indian rupee appreciated 19 paise against the US currency today in early trade on dollar selling by banks amid expectations of fresh capital inflow by funds on hopes of firm opening on the domestic stock markets in line with positive trends on other Asian bourses. At the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market, the domestic currency traded higher at 48.62 against the US currency, a rise of 19 paise over yesterday';s close of 48.81/82. Yesterday, the rupee strengthened by 11 paise to close at 48.81/82 a dollar. Forex dealers said fresh capital inflow on expectations of firm opening on domestic stock exchanges and dollar selling by banks aided Indian currency. Among Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei was up almost 2.57 per cent, while Hong Kong's hang Seng gained 2.47 per cent in early trade today. The BSE Sensex closed 0.91 per cent higher yesterday.

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