Rupee gains against US dollar as Sensex touches 19,500

Mumbai : There was finally some cheer in the market as Indian rupee gained 6 paise to 46.38 against the US dollar in early trade on the Interbank Foreign Exchange on Wednesday.

Supported by fresh capital inflows from foreign funds, the Indian rupee strengthned. But the sharp gains made by the dollar against other major currencies limited the rupee’s rise.

The rupee had ended 5 paise lower at 46.44/45 against the dollar in the previous session on dollar demand from banks and importers. Dealers said continued capital inflows into Indian equities kept the rupee sentiment firm.

Meanwhile, the Sensex briefly touched 19,500 level, from where it eased a little. The key BSE index has gained little over 7 per cent from a month earlier and 18.18 per cent over a year.

IT stocks continued to lead the way, followed by oil & gas, telecom & entertainment, realty and auto.

At 9:36 am, Nifty was at 5841.50, up 49.95 points or 0.79 per cent. The National Stock Exchange benchmark opened the day at 5795.25 against Tuesday?s close of 5795.55. The 50-share index touched a high of 5847.70 versus a low of 5792.20.

Top Sensex gainers were Infosys Technologies (1.83%), Wipro (1.82%), ONGC (1.62%), Reliance Industries (1.29%), Reliance Infra (1.16%), Tata Steel (1.05%), Tata Consultancy Services (1.05%), Tata Motors (1.02%), Mahindra & Mahindra (0.98%), ITC (0.85%), Maruti Suzuki (0.84%), Cipla (0.82%).

The only losers among the 30 Sensex constituents were Tata Power (-0.65%), State Bank of India (-0.38%), Bharti Airtel (-0.36%) and Larsen & Toubro (-0.13%).