Mumbai: Surrendering early trade gains, the rupee closed the day five paise lower at 60.65 against the dollar on sudden demand for the US currency from importers, mainly oil refiners. Weakness in local stocks also weighed on the rupee, while continued capital inflows and lower dollar overseas limited the rupee fall to a major extent, a forex dealer said.
The domestic unit commenced slightly lower at 60.62 a dollar from last close of 60.60. It touched day's low of 60.76 on initial hesitancy in local stocks amid heavy month-end dollar demand from importers, mainly oil refiners. It recovered to 60.43 before before settling the day at 60.65, a fall of five paise from its previous close. Last Friday, it had shot up by 47 paise or 0.77 per cent.
The benchmark BSE Sensex today declined by 56.46 points. FIIs bought shares worth Rs 295.01 crore last Friday, as per provisional data of stock exchanges. The dollar index, a barometer of six major global rivals, was down by 0.23 per cent. The benchmark six-month premium payable in September closed at 208.5-210.5 paise against 210.5-212.5 paise previously.
Far forward contracts maturing in March, 2015 ended the day at 447.5-449.5 paise against 449-451 paise previously. The Reserve Bank of India fixed the reference rate for dollar at 60.5041 and for the euro at 83.6210.
The rupee fell back against the pound to 102.13 from last close of 101.88 and declined against the euro to 84.10 from 83.85. It, however, improved further to 59.26 per 100 Japanese yen from 59.38.
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