The rupee showed signs of fatigue after a two-day upmove and ended lower by 3 paise at 64.40 against the US currency in a quiet session ahead of key macro data amid sustained capital outflows.
Participants preferred to stay on the sidelines awaiting further cues ahead of retail inflation and industrial production data. The key macro-economic data was released after the market hours.
Further, currency traders and speculators also remained cautious ahead of the two-day US Fed policy meeting that will end on Wednesday.
The Federal Reserve is widely expected to hike key interest rates for the third time this year.
Though, the Indian currency showed much resilience to a sudden surge in global crude prices following a shutdown of the UK North Sea’s main pipeline system for emergency repairs.
Brent crude, an international benchmark, topped $ 65 a barrel mark for the first time since 2015 in early Asian trade.
The domestic currency had hit a one-week peak on Monday.
A forex dealer said that inflation and IIP numbers are considered to be statistically significant against the backdrop of a recovery in GDP growth and recent RBI’s decision to keep key rates unchanged, a forex dealer said.
Last week, the six-member Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), headed by Reserve Bank Governor Urjit Patel, had kept the policy rate unchanged at 6 per cent but raised the inflation forecast for the remainder of the fiscal to 4.3-4.7 per cent.
Retail inflation hit a 15-month high of 4.88 per cent in November, while industrial production growth hit a three-month low of 2.2 per cent in October this year, as per data released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) .
Meanwhile, domestic equities endured heavy losses after a spectacular three-session bullish run as cautious investors booked profit ahead of key macro-economic data even as a sharp spike in crude oil prices played spoilsport.
Most Asian bourses drifted lower despite a Wall Street lead which saw another record closing high for the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
The flagship Sensex tumbled over 228 points to end at 33,227.99, while Nifty crumbled 82 points to 10,240.15.
The rupee opened lower at 64.41 from overnight close of 64.37 at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (forex) market on fresh dollar demand from importers.
It later moved in tight range of 64.40 and 64.51 most part of the day before ending at 64.40, showing a loss of 3 paise, or 0.05 per cent.
The RBI, meanwhile, fixed the reference rate for the dollar at 64.4834 and for the euro at 75.9292.
On the global front, the dollar remained moderately lower against other major currencies as investors were focused on the Federal Reserve’s upcoming policy meeting, scheduled to begin later in the day.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback’s value against a basket of six major currencies, was up at 93.85 in early trade.
In cross-currency trades, the rupee firmed up against the pound sterling to finish at 85.91 from 86.19 per pound and recovered against the euro to settle at 75.81 from 75.92 yesterday.
However, the local unit held steady against the Japanese yen at 56.78 per 100 yens.
Elsewhere, the pound sterling managed to recover from its fresh 2-week low to trade positively against the US dollar after disappointing inflation figures, which rose to the highest level since March 2012.
In forward market today, premium for dollar displayed a mixed trade owing to lack of market moving factors.
The benchmark six-month premium payable in May was quoted unchanged at 128.50-130.50 paise, while the far forward October 2018 contract edged up to 266.50-268.50 paise from 265.50-267.50 paise yesterday.
