Rupee rises by 4 paise to 48.61 a dollar in opening trade

The Indian rupee strengthened marginally by four paise against the US dollar in the opening trade on Tuesday on expectations of more capital inflows by foreign funds as stock market may open in positive zone in line with other Asian bourses.

Weak dollar against some other Asian currencies also supported the Indian rupee. At the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market, the domestic unit gained another 4 paise to quote at 48.61 a dollar over the previous close.

Yesterday, the rupee closed 23 paise higher at 48.65/66 after the BSE Sensex surged over 325 points.

Forex dealers said anticipation of increased capital inflows by funds into equity markets, tracking firming trend on the other Asian bourses, which were up by almost 0.80 per cent in the morning trade, and weaker dollar against other Asian currencies mainly supported the Indian currency.