Rupee up 32 paise against dollar in early trade

Mumbai: Extending its gains for the third straight session, the rupee jumped 32 paise to 61.43 a dollar in early trade today at the Interbank Foreign Exchange on sustained selling of the US currency after a sharp decline in country's current account deficit in the third quarter.

India's current account deficit (CAD) narrowed sharply to USD 4.2 billion, or 0.9 per cent of GDP, in December quarter of 2013-14. Forex dealers said a higher opening in the domestic equity market also supported the rupee but dollar's gain against other currencies overseas limited the rise.

The domestic currency had gained 10 paise to close at 61.75 against the dollar in yesterday's trade. Meanwhile, the benchmark BSE Sensex rose by 89.44 points, or 0.42 per cent, to 21,366.30 in early trade on Thursday.