Rupee down by 14 paise versus dolllar

Snapping its two-day gaining streak, the rupee today ended lower by 14 paise against the US currency following month-end dollar demand amid some weakness in equities.

In active trade at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market, the domestic unit closed at 45.15/16, a loss of 14 paise over the previous close.

In last two trading sessions, the rupee had gained 64 paise or 1.40 per cent against the dollar.

Dealers said month-end dollar demand from importers, mainly oil refiners, to meet their monthly requirements as well as over 135 point fall in the benchmark Sensex in afternoon trade, pushed the rupee to day's low of 45.28.

But sustained heavy portfolio investment in local stocks and fag-end recovery in equities, where the Sensex ended lower by a mere over 12 points, helped the rupee to rebound at the fag end to settle the day at 45.15/16.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) injected a massive USD 5.1 billion in the current month till September 27 while pumped in a record USD 18.17 billion in 2010 so far, mainly supporting the recent rupee rally.

Meanwhile, dollar index, consisting of six major units, was down by nearly 0.2 per cent in London.

Global crude oil was trading below USD 76 in London.

The rupee premium for the forward dollar ended further lower on sustained receivings by exporters. The benchmark six-month forward dollar premium payable in February closed down at 113-115 paise from 115-117 on Monday and far-forward maturing in August too finished weak at 228-230 paise from 230-1/2-232-1/2 paise previously.

The Reserve Bank of India has fixed the reference rate for the dollar at Rs 45.13 and the euro at Rs 60.66.

In cross-currency trade, the domestic unit moved down against the pound sterling, the euro and the Japanese yen.

The rupee dropped further to Rs 71.54/56 against the pound sterling from Monday's close of Rs 71.28/30 while fell back to Rs 60.88/90 per euro from Rs 60.66/68 previously.

It also declined against the yen to Rs 53.69/71 per 100 yen from its last close of Rs 53.45/47.