The rupee was trading strong by 18 paise at 61.78 against the dollar at 4.20 p.m. local time on heavy dollar selling by banks and exporters and robust capital inflows into the domestic equity market.

After opening strong by 7 paise at 61.89 per dollar against the previous close of 61.96, the domestic unit hovered in the range of 61.79 and 61.90 in the afternoon trade.

Forex dealers said besides increased selling of the American currency by exporters and banks, the dollar’s weakness against rivals overseas supported the rupee.

Yesterday, the rupee recovered marginally by 2 paise to close at Rs 61.94 on suspected selling of the US currency by state-run banks on behalf of RBI and mild recovery in stocks. It had plunged to a nine-month low of 62.25 against the dollar.

Meanwhile, the 30-share BSE index Sensex surged 267.07 points to end at 28,334.63.