Mumbai, March 5 (PTI): The rupee rebounded by 43 paise to close at 70.49 against the US dollar on Tuesday largely driven by positive macro data and easing crude prices.
Forex traders said heavy buying in domestic equities and sustained foreign fund inflows also propped up the local unit.
At the Interbank Foreign Exchange (forex) market, the domestic unit opened slightly down at 70.95.
During the day, the local unit, however, gathered momentum and rose to an intra-day high of 70.43 before finally ending at 70.49, showing a gain of 43 paise.
The local unit had weakened by 20 paise to close at 70.92 against the US dollar Friday. Foreign investors put in INR 751.92 crore on a net basis in capital markets Tuesday, provisional exchange data showed.
Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, slipped 0.17 per cent to USD 65.63 per barrel lending support to the local unit.
Indian equities benchmark Sensex Tuesday surged by nearly 379 points to close at 36,442. The NSE Nifty too rose nearly 124 points to close a tad below the psychological 11,000-level.
Meanwhile, the Financial Benchmark India Private Ltd (FBIL) set the reference rate for the rupee against the dollar at 70.7601 and against euro at 80.1594. The reference rate for the rupee against the British pound was fixed at 93.1179 and against 100 Japanese yen at 63.23.
