Rupee Drops By 26 Paise, Back Above 73 Mark Against Dollar

The rupee depreciated by 26 paise - or 0.36 per cent - to hit the 73.13 mark against the US dollar on Wednesday, tracking weakness across most Asian currencies. It moved in a range of 72.89-73.13 against the greenback, having started the day marginally weaker at 73.06 compared to its previous close of 72.87. Strength in the dollar overseas and a sluggish movement amid volatile trade in the domestic equity markets hurt the rupee, according to analysts. 

The rupee was last seen trading at 73.05 against the US currency in the second half of the four-hour session.

At Tuesday's closing level of 72.87, the rupee has recovered 5.25 per cent from its all-time low of 76.91, registered in April this year, but still down 2.12 per cent so far this year. 

Domestic stock markets gave up early gains amid volatile trade on Wednesday, weighed down by banking stocks.

The S&P BSE Sensex index fell 300.54 points from the strongest level of the day to hit 38,736.22 on the downside in afternoon deals, and the broader NSE Nifty 50 benchmark declined to as low as 11,430.40, receding from an intraday high of 11,520.45.

The dollar index - which gauges the dollar against six other currencies - rose as much as 0.30 per cent on Wednesday.

While the Japanese yen was down 0.07 per cent against the US dollar at the time, the Chinese yuan was flat, the South Korean won was down 0.20 per cent, the Thai baht down 0.22 per cent and the Indonesian rupiah down 1.36 per cent.