Rupee rout continues, falls 50p against dollar

Falling for the fourth day in a row, the rupee lost a hefty 50 paise to close at 55.92 on persistent dollar demand, especially from corporates and oil importers.

The local currency touched a one-week low of 56.07 intra-day but there was no sign of RBI intervention to shore it up.

With the US dollar strengthening against rivals, including the euro, in the overseas market following disappointing US jobs growth figures, the rupee was under pressure throughout the session as foreign banks and importers bought the US currency.

After opening sharply lower at 55.90 against last weekend's level of 55.42 at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market, rupee slumped day;s low level soon. The currency had last fallen below the 56-level against the dollar on June 29.

With FIIs pumping over Rs 250 crore in stocks today as per provisional BSE data, helped rupee recover a little and strengthen to 55.81. But weakness emerged again at closing as the rupee ended at 55.92. In the last four days, the rupee has tumbled by 154 paise or 2.83 per cent.

Source: The Hindu