Rupee down 4 paise at 45.41/42 against dollar

Mild selling of dollars by banks in view of uncertainty in the currency market too boosted the rupee value in early trade,a dealer said.

It,however,fell back to a low of 45.46 as stocks turned negative in afternoon trade before recovering some ground in line with equities to settle at 45.41/42. Rise in local equities amid a weak dollar overseas capped the rupee’s decline,they added. Dollar buying after mid-session by importers too dampened the rupee.

Alpari Financial Services (India) CEO Pramit Brahmbhatt said,”USD/INR pair traded range bound and ended slightly weak for the day. Indian equity markets ended strong for the day which limited the rupee fall.”

The dollar index was down by 0.43 per cent against a basket of currencies while New York crude oil was trading below USD 88 a barrel in European market on Wednesday. Meanwhile,the Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex ended up by nearly 110 points or 0.66 per cent. FIIs took out $135.60 million from equity markets,as

per Sebi data. India Forex Advisors CEO Abhishek Goenka said,”The rupee closed marginally weaker. The local unit refrained from getting adversely affected by the volatile Euro and weak Asian currencies.”

The rupee premium for the forward dollar dropped on fresh receivings by exporters. The benchmark six-month forward dollar premium payable in January dipped to 64-1/2-67-1/2 paise from 74-77 paise yesterday.

Far-forward contracts maturing in July also tumbled to 135-138 paise from 148-152 paise previously. The RBI fixed the reference rate for the dollar at Rs 45.3695 and the euro at Rs 65.3355. The rupee remained weak against the pound sterling to end at Rs 74.69/71 from Tuesday’s close of Rs 74.27/29 and dropped further to Rs 65.78/80 per euro from Rs 65.14/16 previously. It also declined against the Japanese yen to Rs 59.34/36 per 100 yen from its last close of Rs 59.15/17