Mumbai: The rupee on Wednesday lost 14 paise to register its three-week closing low of 60.37 against the dollar amid capital outflows and continuing demand for the US currency from oil refiners.
At the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market, the domestic currency resumed lower at 60.30 a dollar from the previous close of 60.23. It moved in a range of 60.20 and 60.43 before concluding at 60.37, a fall of 14 paise or 0.23 per cent from its previous close.
Forex dealers said dollar demand from importers, mainly oil refiners, kept the rupee under pressure. Capital outflows weighed negatively on the market sentiment, they said, adding that a weak dollar overseas restricted the rupee fall to some extent. The dollar index, a gauge of six major global rivals, was down by 0.10 per cent.
Foreign institutional investors had pulled out Rs 21.63 crore on Tuesday, as per provisional data with stock exchanges. The BSE benchmark Sensex, meanwhile, tumbled by 207.70 points to close the day at nearly three-week low of 22,777. 23. Retail inflation, based on all India general Consumer Price Index (CPI), rose to 8.31 pct from 8.03 pct in February.
Pramit Brahmbhatt, Veracity Group CEO, said: "Rupee continued to trade weak for the third consecutive day taking cues from the weak domestic stock markets as FIIs were seen selling their stocks mainly because of the weak data released in recent days."
Forward dollar premium softened further on sustained receivings by exporters. The benchmark six-month premium payable in September declined to 224.5-226.5 paise from 227-229 paise previously.
Far forward contracts maturing in March, 2015 eased to 465-467 paise from 466.5-468.5 paise. The Reserve Bank of India fixed the reference rate for dollar at 60.2263 and for the euro at 83.2910.
The rupee dropped further against the pound to 101.37 from 100.72 previously while fell back against the euro to 83.55 from 83.12. It also turned negative to close down at 59.03 per 100 Japanese yen from 59.13.
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