Rupee falls by 3 paise to 46.19/20 VS dlr

Mumbai, Sep 8 (PTI) Hovering near one-year lows, the
rupee fell for the fourth straight day on Thursday to close at
46.19/20 against the US currency, down by 3 paise, due to
sustained dollar demand from importers.
Firm equity markets and sustained capital inflows,
however, cushioned losses to a certain extent. Last time, it
had ended at 46.35/36 a dollar on September 15, 2010.
At the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market, the
local unit opened a tad higher at 46.15/16 a dollar from the
last close of 46.16/17.
Later, it dropped to a low of 46.30 on late mid-session
weakness in equities and continued dollar buying by importers,
mainly oil refiners.
It, however, recovered at the fag-end to some extent due
to a rise in equities and ended the day at 46.19/20, still
lower than its last close.
"The rupee traded in a thin range throughout the day,
and depreciated marginally taking cues from global markets
where dollar gained against major currencies. Dollar demand
from oil importers helped dollar to gain against rupee,"
Alpari Financial Services (India) CEO Pramit Brahmbhatt said.
"The rupee closed grossly weaker today. It remained in a
range as trader were reluctant to take big positions prior to
Federal Reserve's Chairman Ben Bernanke's speech today and
European Central Bank’s press conference," India Forex
Advisors CEO Abhishek Goenka said.
The dollar index was up by about 0.15 per cent in London
today against a basket of six currencies ahead of a meeting of
the European Central Bank (ECB), which is expected to signal
an end to its brief rate hike cycle.
Meanwhile, the BSE benchmark Sensex closed higher by
100.54 points or 0.59 per cent at 17,165.54.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) injected USD 81.30
million in equities on Wednesday, as per SEBI data.
New York crude oil was trading above USD 89 a barrel in
European market on Thursday.
The rupee premium for the forward dollar rallied further
on sustained paying pressure from banks and corporates.
The benchmark six-month forward dollar premium payable in
February finished strong at 83-86 paise from Wednesday's close
of 71-73 paise and far-forward contracts maturing in August
also improved further to 143-1/2-146-1/2 paise from 129-131
paise previously.
The RBI fixed the reference rate for the dollar at Rs
46.1775 and the euro at Rs 64.9545.
The rupee fell back against the pound sterling to settle
at Rs 74.03/05 from Wednesday's close of Rs 73.86/88 while
eased further against the Japanese yen to Rs 59.83/85 per 100
yen from Rs 59.79/81 previously.
It, however, improved further to Rs 64.85/87 per euro
from last close of Rs 64.90/92. PTI MR
RCJ