The rupee rose for the third straight session today appreciating further by 18 paise to close at the one—week high of 48.97/98 against the US currency on strong equities and sustained dollar selling by exporter. Sluggish dollar overseas amid fresh capital inflows too helped the rupee surge, a dealer said. Sustained dollar selling by exporters and some banks on expectations of further fall in dollar overseas on allaying fears of euro-zone crisis helped the rupee.
At the Interbank Foreign Exchange market, the domestic unit opened higher at 49.05/06 a dollar from last weekend's close of 49.15/16 and immediately touched a day's low of 49.14 in line with weak equities. However, it bounced back and rallied to a high of 48.90 before settling at 48.97/98, showing a rise of 0.37 per cent.