Snapping a two-day gaining streak,the rupee today fell by 21 paise to 51.41/42 against the US dollar on hefty demand for the US currency from importers amid weakness in local stocks. Forex dealers said some banks also bought dollar on hopes of a further fall in its value overseas before the outcome of the European leaders summit on Friday to tackle the region's crisis. They,however,said signs of increased capital inflows and weak dollar overseas restricted the rupee's fall. At the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market,the rupee opened weak and immediately touched a high of 51.23. However,later it fell back to settle the day at 51.41/42,down 0.41 per cent from its previous close. In the previous two trading sessions,the local currency had gained a rupee,or 1.92 per cent. The BSE benchmark,Sensex,today declined by 41.50 points,or 0.25 per cent,to 16,805.33 today,after registering gains in the last three-sessions. FIIs infused USD 340.62 million in three sessions since November 30,as per the Sebi data. The rupee premium for the forward dollar continued its north-bound journey on consistent paying pressure from banks and corporates. The benchmark six-month forward dollar premium payable in may rose to 124-1/2-126-1/2 paise from last weekend's close of 118-120 paise and far-forward contracts maturing in November also shot up to 208-1/2-21-/1-2 paise from 197-200 paise previously. The Reserve Bank fixed the reference rate for the US dollar at Rs 51.3925 and for the euro at Rs 68.9227. The rupee fell back mildly against the pound sterling to end at Rs 80.36/38 from last Friday's close of Rs 80.34/36 and also reacted downwards against the Japanese yen to Rs 65.88/90 per 100 yen from Rs 65.67/69 previously. It,however,improved further slightly to Rs 69.03/05 per euro from last close of Rs 69.11 It too shot up against the Japanese yen to Rs 65.67/69 per 100 yen from last close or Rs 66.25
