Rupee on Friday bounced from its near 43-level by gaining 24 paise to close at 42.66/68 against the greenback on the back of heavy dollar selling by exporters amid hints of RBI tightening the monetary policy further to contain the rising inflation.

The local unit opened firm at 42.82/83 a dollar and improved further to end the day at 42.66/68 from its previous close of 42.90/91.

Forex dealers said the local currency drew support from the central bank's hints of increase in the Cash Reserve Ratio or short-term interest rate to contain the rising inflation, which rose to a new high in 45 months to 8.24 per cent for the week ended May 24, 2008.

Weakness in equity markets and sustained capital outflows failed to have a negative impact on the rupee sentiment today, they added.

Meanwhile, the benchmark Sensex ended lower by over 197 points today. Besides China, most of the other Asian indices ended in the red today.

Dealers said dollar selling by exporters was so high that there was no negative impact on the rupee due to persistent offloading by Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) in equity markets. Besides, demand for dollar from oil refiners also slackened, impacting positively on the domestic currency, they said.

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Y V Reddy had said "we are vigilant and ready to take all measures to curb inflationary expectations."