Rupee down for the 3rd day vs dollar, ends at fresh 1-month low

Mumbai: The Indian rupee fell for the third consecutive session on Wednesday against the American currency, slipping by six paise to close at fresh one-month low of 62.25 on persistent dollar demand from banks and importers. Talk of persistent foreign capital outflows also affected the market sentiment, said brokers, adding that the rupee weakened amid strength in the dollar in global markets.

The Indian currency resumed sharply lower at 62.26 as against Tuesday's close of 62.19 at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market. It dropped further to 62.30 on sustained dollar demand from importers before finishing at 62.25 per dollar, showing a loss of six paise or 0.10 per cent. This is its lowest since 62.32 on January 9, 2015.

The Indian rupee has now dropped by 56 paise or 0.91 per cent in the three straight days. The dollar index was up 0.06 per cent against a basket of its major global rivals. "Investors remained concerns over Greece's future in the euro zone and fears over escalating violence in Ukraine which kept the currency weak," said Admisi Forex India, Director, Suresh Nair.

In the New York market, the dollar was trading higher against most of its major rivals and was hovering at one-month high against the yen in early trade. Veracity Group, CEO, Pramit Brahmbhatt said: "Demand for US dollar rose amid expectation of increase in US interest rates before June".

Meanwhile, the benchmark BSE Sensex ended 178.35 points higher at 28,533.97.

The forward premia showed easy to better trend in view of uneven transactions of dollars. The benchmark six-month premium payable in July eased to to 216.5-218.5 paise from 217.5-219.5 paise previously while forward contracts maturing in January 2016 moved up to 424.5-426.5 paise from 423-425 paise. The Reserve Bank of India fixed the reference rate for dollar at 62.1536 and for Euro at 70.3330.

The rupee dropped further against the pound to 95.16 per pound from 94.61 per pound previously and fell against the euro to 70.31 per euro from 70.15. However, the local currency firmed up further against the yen to 51.92 per 100 yen from 52.26 on Tuesday.