Rupee falls by 3 paise to 46.19/20 VS dlr

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 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 $81.30 million in equities yesterday,as per SEBI data. New York crude oil was trading above $89 a barrel in European market today.

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.