MUMBAI, OCT 31: The Indian rupee fell by another 22 paise against the US dollar and ended at an all-time closing low of 46.86/88 on heavy dollar demand from corporates and banks coupled with thin supply at the interbank foreign exchange (forex) market here on Tuesday. The Indian unit opened steady at 46.64/66, continued under pressure and started moving downwards due to sustained month-end dollar demand from corporates and short covering by banks. As the heavy month-end dollar demand from corporates and banks continued during the day and supply remained thin, the rupee witnessed only one-way southward movement throughout the day. The Indian unit ended at an all-time closing low of 46.86/88, shedding a whopping 22 paise from the previous day's close of 46.64 According to leading dealers, the market witnessed heavy dollar demand from nationalised as well as foreign banks on behalf of their corporate clients. ``There was inflow of foreign exchange from the country,'' said a dealer. The rupee had plunged to historic-lows of 46.91/93 in intraday deals on Monday and required timely dollar-selling intervention by state-owned banks to help it to recover smartly to Rs. 46.62 ``It was a case of last minute rush to cover dollar positions in a shallow market that stepped up the pressure on the rupee,'' dealers said. Dealers attributed the rupee's slide mainly to month-end demand for dollars from corporates and importers, particularly offshore oil companies. Dollar supplies were also limited, as fresh dollar inflows from foreign portfolio funds and exporters have reduced to a trickle. The rupee has been under severe pressure for the major part of October due to rising global oil prices and a slowdown in forex inflows. It has depreciated by over 7.20 per cent in the current calender year. Marketmen expect the rupee to resume on a weak note tomorrow, but fears of central bank dollar-selling intervention in support of the rupee will prevent operators from testing the crucial 47.00-dollar level. Sensex recovers from early lows: Share prices bounced back from their early lows and posted moderate gains reflecting a dramatic recovery in trend-setters like Infosys Technologies and Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) on late buying from investors. The BSE Sensex opened moderately down at 3672.48 and moved further downwards to the day's low of 3646.73 in a narrowly mixed trend. However, it later recovered smartly to close at 3711.02 as against yesterday's close of 3689.43, netting a gain of 21.59 points. The BSE-100 Index firmed up by 22.43 points to 1916.99 from previous close of 1894.56. Besides, some leading banks and foreign institutional investors (FIIs) reportedly made purchases in infotech sector in good quantity following announcement of excellent second quarter net earnings by Wipro, Silverline and Himachal Futuristic. Dealers also attributed the recovery in technology sector to firm trend in Nasdaq futures this afternoon after the Nasdaq Composite Index fell by over 87 points yesterday. However, old economy stocks suffered a marked setback due to selling pressure. In the specified group, 76 counters including 17 index based scrips registered moderate gains while 61 others showed moderate losses. Himachal Futuristic rose by 62.20 to 1234.10. Global Telesystem was up by 26.05 at 1057.95, Infosys Tech by 64.85 at 7169.40, ACC by 2.50 at 93.45, Dr Reddy by 28.85 at 1401.90, Grasim by 3.75 at 203.30, GA Cement by 2.05 at 133.90, HLL by 4.10 at 177.75, HPCL by 3.10 at 106.95, ITC by 8.95 at 761.75, NIIT by 27.70 at 1576.80, RIL by 1.90 at 303.15, SBI by 7 at 164 and TISCO by 1.05 at 96.95.
