Mumbai: The rupee on Tuesday weakened for the third straight session, moving lower by another 15 paise to close at 62.75 against the dollar on month-end demand from importers as the US currency strengthened overseas. Fresh capital outflows and some hesitancy in local stocks also weighed on the rupee.
The local currency resumed lower at 62.80 a dollar from Monday's close of 62.60 at the interbank foreign exchange market. It moved in a range of 62.45 to 62.90 before ending at 62.75, a fall of 15 paise or 0.24 per cent. It has tumbled 98 paise in the past three trading sessions. Month-end dollar requirements from importers, mainly oil refiners, mainly affected the rupee sentiment.
The benchmark S&P BSE Sensex today closed up by 19.25 points. Foreign institutional investors sold a net USD 4.15 million of stocks stocks yesterday after recent inflows, according to Sebi data.
"Rupee was seen trading flat with a weaker bias. Locally, weakness in the domestic stock markets was seen putting pressure on the rupee," said Abhishek Goenka, CEO of India Forex Advisors. The dollar traded 0.13 per cent higher against its major rivals.
"The trading range for the USD-INR pair is expected to be within 62.20 to 63.20," said Pramit Brahmbhatt, CEO of Alpari Financial Services (India).
Forward dollar premiums improved on sustained payments from banks and corporates. The benchmark six-month forward dollar premium payable in February firmed up to 234-239 paise from Monday's close of 232-237 paise and far-forward contracts maturing in August rose to 444-449 paise from 438-443 paise.
The RBI fixed the reference rate for the dollar at 62.6585 and for the euro at 84.5955.
The rupee recovered to 100.35 against the pound from the previous close of 100.50 and slipped to 84.62 per euro from 84.59. It declined further against the Japanese yen to 63.52 per 100 yen from 63.29 previously.
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