The rupee on Wednesday touched 51-level after a gap of 32 months but closed at 50.74/75 against the US currency on persistent dollar demand from banks and importers in view of the strong dollar overseas.
The rupee resumed lower at 50.90/91 per dollar at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market, as against previous closing level of 50.67/68 a dollar. It dropped further to 32-month low to 51.01 a dollar, before ending at 50.74/75 a dollar, down by 7 paise over the last close.
The rupee had last touched 51.20 per dollar on March 31, 2009.
Meanwhile, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said RBI is monitoring the situation and will intervene in the forex market “as and when necessary“.
