Rupee falls for 2nd day

Loses 14 paise to end at 54.46 on $ demand

December 13, 2012 10:08 am | Updated 06:05 pm IST - Mumbai

Falling for the second day, the rupee on Thursday weakened by 14 paise to close at 54.46 tracking losses in Indian stocks amid sustained dollar demand from importers.

A firm US dollar overseas after the Federal Reserve’s decision to expand monetary stimulus also weighed on the rupee while continued FII inflows worth $230 million in stocks restricted the fall to 14 paise, forex dealers said.

At the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market, the rupee commenced strong at 54.15 a dollar against last close of 54.32. It immediately touched a high of 54.10 on early rise in equities and fresh dollar selling by exporters.

However, the rupee fell back on weakness in local stocks and dollar demand from importers, mainly oil refiners, to a low of 54.52. It finally setlled for the day at 54.46, showing a fall of 14 paise or 0.26 per cent.

Yesterday, it was down by six paise or 0.11 per cent.

Pramit Brahmbhatt, CEO, Alpari Financial Services (India) said: “The rupee reversed the initial gains on dollar buying by oil importers and defence related payments. The weaker tone of domestic equity markets also weighed on rupee after the index heavy weights shed some of their recent gains.”

Meanwhile, the Indian stock market benchmark Sensex today closed down by 126 points or 0.65 per cent, completing a five sessions of losses.

The dollar index, a gauge of six major global rivals, was up by 0.15 per cent in Europe today.

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