The Indian rupee on Friday fell for the second day and depreciated by 17 paise to end at nearly one-month low of 61.72 against the greenback on sustained dollar demand even as local stock indices surged to new highs.
The rupee resumed lower at 61.61 per dollar as against the Thursday’s closing level of 61.55 at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) Market.
Later, it slipped further to 61.83, before concluding the day at 61.72 per dollar, reporting a loss of 17 paise or 0.28 per cent. This is its lowest close since ending at 61.83 per dollar on October 16, 2014.
On Friday, it moved in a range of 61.60 per dollar and 61.83 per dollar during the session.
“Rupee depreciated sharply in last hour of the trade marching towards 62 after breaking 61.75. USD index also inched higher suggesting strength in USD against major world currencies. Most Asian currencies remained weak against USD,” said Kiran Kumar Kavikondala, Director & CEO, WealthRays Securities.
In New York market, the pound continued to move lower against the dollar during the North American trading day on Thursday, reaching its lowest level since September 9.
The US dollar rose higher against its major rivals.
It ruled at a fresh seven-year high against Japanese yen, bolstered by rising Japanese equities.
The dollex index was quoting higher by 0.22 per cent against major currencies in the global market.
Meanwhile, the Indian benchmark Sensex rose by 106.02 points, or 0.38 per cent, to all-time closing high of 28,046.66 on fresh buying in select counters due to fall in inflation.
Pramit Brahmbhatt, Veracity Group CEO said: “Today also the rupee traded low and depreciated by over quarter percent for the day. On weekly basis, the rupee has registered a weekly loss taking cues from the strong dollar. Now investors are waiting for US data which is due for the day. The outcome of the data will show the road ahead to the market.”
In the forward market, premia ended mixed on alternate bouts of receipts and payments.
The benchmark six-month premium payable in April eased further to 215-217 paise from 217-219 paise on Thursday.
However, forward contracts maturing in October, 2015 moved up further to 443-445 paise from 442-444 paise previously.
The Reserve Bank of India fixed the reference rate for dollar at 61.6475 and for the Euro at 76.6957.
The rupee firmed up further against the pound to 96.65 from previous closing level of 97.04, but fell to 76.82 per euro from 76.72 per euro on Thursday.
It gained further to 53.01 per 100 Japanese yen from Thursday’s level of 53.23.
