Rupee snaps two-day slide, gains 11 paise against dollar

Mumbai, Aug 27 (PTI) A day after hitting the 44-mark in nearly 17 months against the greenback, the Indian rupee Wednesday gained 11 paise to close at 43.74/75 on dollar selling by banks.

Foreign exchange dealers said the Reserve Bank of India
(R.B.I.) heavily sold dollars when the rupee touched the day's
low of 43.93 in late afternoon trade.

The rupee had fallen by about 1.0 percent in the last
two days on hectic dollar purchases by oil companies to meet
their month-end payment requirements. Tuesday, the domestic
currency touched the 44-mark during intra-day but closed at
43.85/86.

Earlier in the day, the rupee traded in a range of
43.6550 and 43.9300 during the day on alternate bouts of
dollar buying and selling.

Dealers said traders were engaged in covering rupee
positions while oil refiners bought dollars for their monthly
import payments.

The rupee attempted a smart rally at 43.6550 but ran out
of steam at the fag end of session in line with weak trends on
equity markets. The benchmark Sensex closed the day lower by
185 points.

A fresh rise in global oil prices to around USD 117 a
barrel in Asian trade today also weighed on the rupee, which
failed to maintain its higher levels.

Meanwhile, the dollar retreated overseas due to profit
booking after it jumped Tuesday against a basket of
currencies. PTI JCG