Rupee continues downslide in morning trade

Wed, May 14 12:21 PM

Mumbai, May 14 (PTI) The Indian rupee continued its downslide and was quoted 23 paise lower at 42.33/35 against the greenback in late morning deals today on good dollar buying by banks and oil refiners. In active trade at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market, the domestic unit resumed weak at 42.20/22 as against yesterday's close of 42.10/12 a dollar.

Later, it fell further to quote at 42.33/35 a dollar in late morning deals, lowest level since April 13, 2007 when it was ended at 42.51/52 a dollar. Slowdown in the economy of most of the Asian countries, including India, weighed on the rupee sentiment as banks and corporates rushed to cover their dollar short positions.

Oil refiners and importers also were said to be buyers as the global crude oil prices remained high near USD 126 a barrel after touching a new record high of USD 126.98 a barrel in New York last night. Sustained capital outflows also partly affected the rupee sentiment.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were reportedly pulled out over USD 220 million in three days since May 8. Meanwhile, the BSE benchmark Sensex was stable at 1030 hours.

PTI.

RECOMMEND THIS STORY