Mumbai : The rupee recovered 29 paise from Wednesday’s record low to 54.20 against dollar in the late morning trade on Thursday due to fresh selling of the American currency by banks and exporters amid firm equity market, although it lost some ground later.

The dollar weakened slightly against the rupee despite quoting higher against other currencies in the overseas market.

The rupee resumed stronger at 54.40/41 per dollar at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market as against the last closing level of 54.49/50 per dollar and firmed up further to 54.20 per dollar before quoting at 54.32/33 per dollar at 1015 hrs.

The rupee had plunged against the US dollar to a historic low of 54.56 before closing at 54.50 in yesterday’s trade, the lowest closing ever.

Fresh selling of dollars from banks and exporters on the back of recovery in the equity market mainly boosted the rupee value against the dollar, a forex dealer said.

The BSE benchmark Sensex recovered 170 points or 1.06 per cent in the early trade.

In New York market, the dollar extended its longest rally in more than two decades on Wednesday after minutes from the latest Federal Reserve meeting raised questions about officials’ confidence in the outlook for the US economy.