The rupee opened higher by 8 paise at Rs. 45.0513 in the opening trade due to supported higher opening in the stock market and dollar weakness against other Asian currencies.
The rupee advanced against the dollar on Wednesday, breaking a two-day losing sequence as local shares extended gains and oil prices moderated for a second straight day.
Gains in other Asian currencies vis-a-vis the greenback also added to the momentum for the rupee.
At 10:34 am (IST) today, the partially-convertible Indian currency was trading at 45.0050 per dollar as against the previous close of 45.0750/0850 a dollar.
The rupee opened higher by 8 paise at 45.0513 in the early morning trade. It recorded an intra day high of 44.9775 and a low of 45.0550.
Meanwhile, the Indian stock indices managed to extend the advance for a second successive session, with the BSE Sensex and the NSE Nifty registering moderate gains in early morning trade, after the Congress and the DMK decided to bury the hatchet over seat sharing formula for the Tamil Nadu elections.
The Sensex was currently trading at 18,491, up 51 points while NSE Nifty was quoting at 5,534, up 14 points. Earlier, the Sensex and the Nifty had touched an intraday high of 18,583 and 5,563.
Oil prices have cooled off a little in the past couple of days amid assurance from some OPEC members on supply and talk of Libyan President Muammar Gaddafi stepping down from his position.
Crude for April delivery decreased as much as 66 cents to $104.36 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It was at $104.42 at 1:07 p.m. Sydney time.
Yesterday, the contract lost 42 cents from the previous settlement of $105.44, the highest since Sept. 26, 2008.
In international currency markets, the yen weakened for a second day against the euro.
Japan’s currency declined versus 14 of its 16 major counterparts after oil prices retreated for a second consecutive day.
The Dollar Index rose for a third day amid growing optimism about the state of the world's largest economy.
The Dollar Index, which tracks the greenback against the currencies of six major US trading partners, gained 0.1% to 76.868 after advancing to 76.979 yesterday, the highest since March 2.
Australian dollar fell for a fifth day after a government report showed that home-loan approvals dropped the most in year.
