Rupee down by 14 paise at 43.29/31 against a US dollar

Thu, Jul 3 08:23 PM

Mumbai, July 3 (PTI) The Indian rupee today lost 14 paise to close at 43.29/31 against the US dollar amid capital outflows and spiralling global crude oil prices. At the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market, the domestic unit resumed remarkably lower at 43.29/31 a dollar but recovered to 43.19 on some dollar selling by exporters.

The local currency lated reacted downwards to 43.35 on dollar buying by foreign banks and oil refiners to meet their import requirements. Finally, the domestic unit ended the day at opening level of 43.29/31 per dollar.

Sustained selling by Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) mainly pushed the rupee downwards. They pulled out over USD 6.4 billion in the current calender year so far that led to nearly 10 per cent fall in the local currency in 2008 after hefty gains of nearly 12 per cent in the last year.

The Indian benchmark Sensex today plunged by nearly 571 points after overnight sharp recovery of 703 points. Most of the other Asian indices ended in the red.

The Reserve Bank fixed the reference rate for US dollar at Rs 43.30 and for single European unit at Rs 68.72. The rupee premiums on forward dollar finished further lower on sustained receivings by exporters.

The benchmark six-month forward dollar premium payable in December ended at 96 - 99 paise, down from 103 - 106 paise on Wednesday and the far-forward maturing in June also closed lower at 171 - 174 paise from 180 - 183 paise previously. In cross currency trades, rupee reacted downwards against the British Sterling, the Euro and the Japanese yen.

The domestic unit dropped against the pound sterling to close at Rs 86.19/21 from previous close of Rs 85.71/73 per pound and also dipped against the single European currency to Rs 68.82/84 per euro from last close of Rs 68.17/19 per euro. PTI.

Inside News

Editor's picks