Rupee on Thursday hit a fresh 9-1/2 year high of 39.22/24 against the US dollar after the United States' Federal Reserve slashed interest by 0.25 per cent on Wednesday, but held steady in late morning deals on intervention by RBI and some dollar short-covering.
In active trade at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market, the domestic unit opened sharply higher at 39.22/24 per dollar, a new 9-1/2 year high breaching the previous record of 39.26 registered on February 25, 1998.
Sharp rally in benchmark Sensex by 366 points in early trade also helped the rupee surge, forex dealers said.
But dollar buying by state-run banks on behalf of the central bank to protect the exporters' competitiveness pulled the rupee down to 39.31/32 a dollar in late morning deals as against yesterday's close of 39.32/33 per dollar.