MUMBAI: The Indian rupee appreciated by four paise to 49.16/18 against the US currency in morning trade on Wednesday after losing nine paise in the early trade amid signs of fresh pressure on the local unit as equity markets continued their slide for the second straight day.
Dealers at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (forex) market said the domestic currency is expected to trade in a range of 49.16 and 49.40 during the day and may weaken further due to pressure from capital outflows.
The rupee resumed lower at 49.25/27 a dollar against its previous close of 49.20/22 a dollar and later moved in a range of about 25 paise in the initial thirty minutes of trading.
It was quoted at 49.16/18 a dollar in late morning deals. Indian benchmark Sensex this morning fell by another 221 points leading to fears of more funds outflow by foreign Institutional Investors (FII).