Indian rupee falls back by 17 paise to 49.12/13 Vs US dollar

The Indian rupee today depreciated by 17 paise to close at 49.12/13 against the US currency due to fresh dollar demand from importers and late weakness in local equities.

Firm dollar overseas too weighed on the rupee but sustained capital inflows capped rupee’s fall to some extent.

At the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market,the local currency started slightly weak at 48.97/98 a dollar from previous close of 48.95/96. It immediately touched a high of 48.85 on early rally in stocks amid dollar selling by exporters.

However,weakness in equities later in the day and fresh dollar demand from importers,mainly oil refiners,put pressure on the rupee and it fell to a low of 49.23 before concluding at 49.12/13. Yesterday,it had gained 37 paise.

The BSE benchmark Sensex,which was up by over 125 points in early stage,ended down over 74 points or 0.44 per cent.

The dollar index was up by nearly 0.2 per cent against a basket of six major currencies while New York crude oil was trading above USD 84 a barrel in European market today.

“Dollar traded strong against major currencies mainly against euro which helped the greenback gain against rupee,” Alpari Financial Services (India) CEO Pramit Brahmbhatt said.

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The rupee premium for the forward dollar improved further on sustained paying pressure from banks and corporates.

The benchmark six-month forward dollar premium payable in March settled up at 84-1/2-86-1/2 paise from Wednesday’s close of 82-84 paise and far-forward contracts maturing in September also rose to 123-125 paise from 118-120 paise previously.

“Strong resistance is seen at 49.50,above which we could see rupee to trade near 50.00 and the trading range for the USD/INR will be 48.90 to 49.60 tomorrow,” Brahmbhatt said.

FIIs pumped in USD 326.46 million in straight four sessions since October 7,as per the Sebi data.

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“Traders in the foreign exchange market are finding themselves incapable of deciding the fate of the eurozone’s

financial system thus holding to their positions and avoiding the risk of taking new positions,” Abhishek Goenka,CEO,India Forex Advisors said.

“Unless and until some concrete news comes from the eurozone,whether positive or negative,is being awaited which will bring about a substantial fluctuation in the market.

However,our target of 50 levels is still intact,” he added.

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The Reserve Bank of India fixed the reference rate for the US dollar at Rs 49.0228 and for the euro at Rs 67.5553.

The rupee closed slightly weak against the pound sterling at Rs 77.05/07 from yesterday’s close of Rs 77.01/03 and also finished a tad lower at Rs 67.44/46 per euro from Rs 67.43/45 previously. It declined further against Japanese yen to end at Rs 63.96/98 per 100 yen from last close of Rs 63.83/85.