Rupee Snaps 4-Day Winning Streak, Ends At 67.45/Dollar

Mumbai: Snapping its four-day winning spree against the American currency, the rupee on Tuesday dropped by 18 paise to close at 67.45 on fresh demand for the dollar from banks and importers.

The rupee opened lower at 67.32 as against Monday's closing level of 67.27 at the interbank foreign exchange (forex) market and dropped further to 67.5150 before finishing at 67.45 per dollar, still showing a loss of 18 paise or 0.26 per cent.

The rupee had gained by 68 paise or 1 per cent in the previous four days.

The domestic unit hovered in a range of 67.32 and 67.5150 during the day.

Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India fixed the reference rate for the dollar at 67.4028 and euro at 75.0328.

In cross-currency trades, the rupee firmed up further against the pound sterling to finish at 88.67 from 89.31 on Monday while it fell against the euro to 75.27 from 74.88.

The domestic currency also moved down against the Japanese yen to 66.26 per 100 yens from 65.58.

In the global market, the US dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six rival currencies was trading up by 0.08 per cent in the late afternoon trade.

Investors fled anything considered a risky asset today sending the pound sharply lower and the yen rallying, as fears over the Brexit fallout again took a toll on markets.

The sterling slumped to an intraday low of $1.3114, a new post-Brexit low and the weakest against the dollar since 1985. The UK currency traded at $1.3289 late Monday in New York.

Pramit Brahmbhatt of Veracity Financial Services said, "The rupee opened marginally lower by losing 5 paise at 67.32/dollar against previous close of 67.27/dollar, as at lower levels dollar found buying interest. Our benchmark index Nifty opened marginally higher but found selling pressure at higher level and closed with a loss of 35 points."

"Negative cues from domestic equity market put pressure on rupee. Thus the rupee closed with a loss of 18 paise at 67.45/dollar. Trading range for the spot dollar/rupee pair will be 67.20 to 67.80/dollar."

In the forward market, premium for dollar eased further on persistent receivings from exporters.

The benchmark six-month premium for December moved down further to 198-200 paise from 200-201 paise yesterday while the forward June 2017 contract also declined to 396-398 from 399.75-400.50 paise.

Meanwhile, the benchmark Sensex dropped by 111.89 points or 0.41 pct to close at 27,166.87 on Tuesday.

The forex and money markets will remain closed on Wednesday, July 6, on account of Ramzan Id.