Mumbai, Mar 10 (UNI) The rupee today closed weaker at 44.49/50 per US dollar as against the close of 44.47/48, a dealer at the forex market here said.

Earlier Rupee today opened weaker at 44.53/54, as against the last close of 44.47/48, the dealer added.

The rupee traded in the range of 44.5150 to 44.54 in the mid-morning session.

The Bombay Stock Exchange Sensitive Index today closed with a massive gain of 191 points at 10,765 points which kept rupee stable during the day.

The crude oil prices stayed above USD 60 per barrel in the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) which did support rupee at lower levels along with Rs 882.3 crore foreign fund inflow on Wednesday in the equity markets.

RBI fixed the reference rate for the rupee at 44.50 per USD.

The six-month forward premia ended lower at 2.55 per cent from Thursday's close at 2.56 per cent.

The one-year forward premia closed unchanged at 1.97 per cent, same as the last close of 1.97 per cent.

The cross-currency rate for the rupee against the euro was two paise down at 53.03 (53.05), for pound sterling it was 77.27 (77.31), closing down by four paise from its last close and for the Japanese yen it was 37.60(37.92), down by 32 paise.

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