Mumbai: In listless trade, the Indian rupee Wednesday edged up by two paise to close at 61.84 against the Greenback on stray dollar selling by exporters.
Firm dollar overseas and sustained capital inflows, however, restricted the rupee rise, a forex dealer said.
Some dollar demand from importers, mainly oil refiners, to meet their month-end requirements also capped the rupee rise, he added.
At the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market, the domestic unit commenced a tad higher at 61.85 a dollar from previous close of 61.86. It moved in a restricted range of 61.8050 and 61.8975 before concluding at 61.84, a rise of a mere two paise or 0.03 percent. Yesterday, it was up by eight paise or 0.13 percent.
The Indian benchmark S&P BSE Sensex today rose by 48.14 points, or 0.17 percent. FPIs/FIIs bought shares worth Rs 1,168.94 crore yesterday, as per provisional data.
The dollar index, consisting of six major global rivals, was up by 0.11 percent.
Pramit Brahmbhatt, CEO, Veracity Group, said: "Rupee traded flat and closed near yesterdays level for the day taking cues from local equities which traded flat. We have seen dollar selling by state run banks offset the dollar demand from importers towards month end."
The trading range for the spot rupee is expected to be within 61.50 to 62.30, he added.
In the forward market, premia closed mixed on alternate bouts of demand and supply.
The benchmark six-month premium payable in April ended a tad higher at 199.5-201.5 paise from previous close of 199-201 paise. Forward contracts maturing in October, 2015, dipped to 422.75-424.75 paise from 429-432 paise.
The Reserve Bank of India fixed the reference rate for dollar at 61.8658 and for the Euro at 77.2147.
The rupee reacted downwards against the pound to 97.32 from Tuesday's close of 96.97 while it moved down further to 76.95 per euro from 76.93.
It fell back to 52.53 per 100 Japanese yen from 52.37.
