Rupee off 4-1/2-mth high,ends two paise lower at 53.47 Vs USD

It rallied further to a 4-1/2-month high of 53.04 on dollar selling by exporters and heavy capital inflows. Previously,rupee had touched an intra-day high of 52.95 on May 10,2012.

The rupee later,however,fell back to a low of 53.54 before concluding slightly better at 53.47,a fall of two paise. FIIs pumped in USD 300 million in stocks today as per provisional data and this helped rupee recover a bit.

Month-end dollar demand from importers,mainly oil refiners,and also some banks on hopes further rise in dollar value overseas,mainly later weighed on the rupee. The New York crude oil was trading above USD 92 a barrel today.

The dollar ramped up gains during European trading hours.

“The weakness in the Euro was on account of increasing concern over Spain and weak data from Germany…If rupee sustains above 54.50 levels on closing basis in the days to come then we can say that the bottom has been made in the rupee,” said Abhishek Goenka,Founder & CEO,India Forex Advisors.

The dollar index was up by 0.36 per cent against a basket of six major currencies on reports of fresh financial trouble in Greece and Spain aided fears about the debt-ridden Euro.

Meanwhile,in lacklustre trade the Indian stock market benchmark Sensex today closed lower by 79.49 points.

Pramit Brahmbhatt,CEO,Alpari Financial Services (India) said,”The rupee reversed the sharp initial gains during the session on oil importers demand at lower levels and on rising dollar index which edged higher after a fresh wave of risk aversion due to weaker-than-expected German Ifo business datae.”

The premium for the forward dollar ended sideways with nominal changes.

The benchmark six-month forward dollar premium payable in February settled at 140-142 paise from last Friday’s close of 140-1/2-142-1/2 paise.

The premium for far-forward contracts maturing in August,however,edged up to 287-289 paise from 286-288 paise.

The RBI has fixed the reference rate for the US dollar at 53.2930 and for euro at 68.9510.

The rupee improved further against the pound sterling to end at 86.69 from last weekend’s close of 86.93 and remained firm to 69.13 per euro from 69.35.

It,however,fell back against the Japanese yen to 68.52 per 100 yen from last close of 68.37.