The rupee softened on Thursday by two paise to close at 44.72/73 against the U.S. currency on weakness in equities amid stray dollar demand from importers despite weak dollar overseas amid capital inflows.
After moving in a narrow breadth, the Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex eased further by 9.39 points or 0.05 per cent to 18,385.
Some dollar demand from importers too weighed on the rupee, dealers said.
In New York yesterday, the dollar rose against the euro and other major currencies after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke indicated there would not be a further round of quantitative easing.
Meanwhile, New York oil was trading above USD 101 a barrel in European market.
Alpari Forex (India) CEO Pramit Brahmbhatt said: “Rupee after the intraday low erased all the gains and depreciated as Euro weakened against the greenback. Today ECB’s rate decision will help the major currencies to find its way“.
“Expect USD/INR pair to touch 45.00 in coming days and the trading range for the USD/INR tomorrow will be 44.60 to 45.10,” he added.
In lackluster trading at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market, the local unit opened just stable at 44.71/72 a dollar from previous close of 44.70/71.
Later, it moved in a limited range of 44.64 and 44.7650 before concluding at 44.72/73.
The dollar index of six major currencies was down by a mere 0.02 per cent while.
