Rupee breaches 50-level,ends at 50.36/37

Forex dealers said the rupee slumped on sustained demand for the dollar from importers.

The rupee today breached the 50-levelmark after a gap of nearly six weeks by losing a hefty 52 paise to end the day at 50.36/37 against the dollar. Forex dealers said the domestic currency slumped on sustained demand for the American currency from importers amid signs of slowdown in capital inflows. They also said the rupee was weighed down by a strong dollar overseas.

The rupee resumed lower at 49.94/95 per dollar at the Interbank Foreign Exchange Forex market as against the last closing level of 49.84/85 per dollar. It dropped further to 50.39 per dollar before ending at 50.36/37 per dollar,showing a loss of 1.04 per cent or 52 paise. Meanwhile,BSE benchmark Sensex closed down by 190 points.

Abhishek Goenka,CEO,India Forex Advisors said,8221;The rupee is being punched from both the sides,with drying inflows and outflows in the form of payments for maturing foreign debt of leading corporates in India. The rupee was also tracking the local shares and Euro for the entire day. The local bourses plunged today on the back of weak performance by the ruling Congress party in major state elections thus making the path of reforms thornier. Crude oil prices edged higher in Asian trade despite weak economic data from Europe and China.

8220;The main reason behind dollar getting stronger across the board is appreciation in crude oil. This has given rise to renewed concerns regarding growth prospects in struggling developed economies as well as prospects of increase in inflation in emerging nations,including India. The strength in dollar globally is getting reflected in the USDINR pair,8221; Goenka said.

New York8217;s main contract,light sweet crude for delivery in April,gained 18 cents to USD 106.90. The rupee premium for the forward dollar continued to rule weak on sustained receivings by exporters. The benchmark six-month forward dollar premium payable in August ended down at 166-168 paise from Monday8217;s close of 169-1/2-171-1/2 paise and far-forward contracts maturing in February also finished lower at 285-1/2-287-1/2 paise from 290-292 paise. The RBI has fixed the reference rate for the US dollar at 50.0265 and for euro at 66.0203.

The rupee fell back against the pound sterling to end at Rs 79.41/43 from overnight closing level of Rs 78.79/81 and dropped further against the euro to Rs 66.16/18 from Rs 65.69/71 previously. It,also tumbled against Japanese yen at Rs 62.12/14 per 100 yen from its last close of Rs 61.39/41.