Rupee falls by 18 paise VS dollar

Mumbai, Apr 12 (PTI) The rupee Monday closed down 18
paise against the US currency after strong dollar demand
towards the end of day amid weak stock markets.
In fairly active trade at the Interbank Foreign Exchange
(Forex) market, the domestic unit settled at 44.46/47 a
dollar, a loss of 18 paise over the previous close. The rupee
moved in a wide range of 44.19 and 44.51 during the day.
Dealers said the rupee opened strong against the US
currency on persistent dollar selling by banks and corporates
amidst weakness of dollar in overseas market.
In the global market, the euro leapt to its highest in
nearly a month today, surging one per cent on the dollar.
Dollar buying by importers in later part, however,
weighed on the rupee, dealers said.
Weak stock markets also impacted the rupee sentiment,
they added. The benchmark Sensex ended lower by over 80 points
or 0.45 per cent.
The rupee premium for the forward dollar ended lower on
fresh receiving by exporters.
The benchmark six-month forward dollar premium payable
in September ended down at 70-71 paise from 72-1/2-73-1/2
paise last Friday and far-forward maturing in March also
finished lower at 139-140 paise from 140-141 paise previously.
The Reserve Bank of India fixed the reference rate for
the dollar at Rs 44.35 and for the euro at Rs 60.50.
In cross currency trade, the domestic currency declined
further against the pound and the euro and reacted downwards
against the Japanese yen.
The rupee fell further against the pound to end at Rs
68.57/59 per pound from Friday's close of Rs 68.06/08 and
also dropped against the euro to Rs 60.39/41 per euro from
Rs 59.26/28 previously.
It, also reacted downwards against the yen to Rs
47.55/57 per 100 yen from its last close of 47.24/26. PTI