Indian Rupee ends lower by 5 paise against a dollar

Mumbai, Jul 23 (PTI) Snapping its four-day winning streak, the Indian rupee Tuesday closed lower at 42.73/74 against the greenback amid continuing surge in stock marketsand dollar selling by exporters.

At the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market, the Indian unit opened slightly lower at 42.70/72 and moved in a wide range of 42.85 and 42.57 per dollar before closing at42.73/74.

The rupee premiums on forward dollar ended slightlylower following fresh receiving by exporters.

The benchmark six-month forward dollar premium payable in December ended at 100-1/2 - 102-1/2 paise, down from 102 - 104 paise on Monday and the far-forward maturing in June also closed lower at 175-1/2 - 177-1/2 paise from 178 - 180 paisepreviously.

Meanwhile, the benchmark Sensex on the Bombay StockExchange closed higher up by 254 points today.

The Reserve Bank of India fixed the reference rate for the American dollar at Rs 42.71 and for the Single Europeancurrency at Rs 68.02.

In cross currency trades, the domestic unit reacted downwards against the British Sterling and the Japanese yenwhile declined further against the Euro.

The domestic unit fell back against the pound Sterling to end the day at Rs 85.74/76 per pound from yesterday's close of Rs 85.20/22 per pound while it dropped further against the single european currency to Rs 68.08/10 from last close of ofRs 67.71/73 per euro.

It also weakened against the Japanese Yen to Rs 40.23/25 per 100 yen from previous close of Rs 39.91/93 per100 yen.