Rupee falls back by 2 paise vs $ to end at 60.14 in dull trade

The rupee on Thursday fell back two paise to end at 60.14 against the dollar on weak local equities and demand for the US currency from importers, snapping two straight days of marginal gains.

The rupee on Thursday fell back two paise to end at 60.14 against the dollar on weak local equities and demand for the US currency from importers, snapping two straight days of marginal gains.

A better dollar overseas also weighed on the rupee while capital inflows capped the rupee fall, said forex dealers.

At the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market, the domestic currency commenced higher at 60.10 a dollar from last close of 60.12. It moved in a tight range between 60.08 and 60.20 before concluding at 60.14, a fall of two paise or 0.03%.

The rupee had gained one paise on June 25 and seven paise on June 24.

The BSE benchmark Sensex on Thursday tumbled by 251.07 points, or 0.99%. FIIs had picked up shares worth Rs 694.63 crore on Wednesday, as per provisional data.

The dollar index, an indicator of six major global rivals, was up by 0.04%.

"Domestic currency opened on a stronger note tracking its Asian peers as US dollar was seen tumbling against the basket of major currencies soon after the GDP numbers were released for US, which showed sub-par growth for the first quarter.

This was seen putting pressure on the dollar Index," said Abhishek Goenka, founder and CEO, India Forex Advisors. Meanwhile, the premium for forward dollar remained weak on persistent receipts by exporters.

The benchmark six-month premium payable in November dropped to 213-215 paise from overnight close of 218-220 paise and far-forward contracts maturing in May, 2015 also dipped to 457-459 paise from 468.5-463.5 paise.

The Reserve Bank of India fixed the reference rate for dollar at 60.1618 and for the euro at 82.0440.

The rupee turned negative to end at 102.36 against the pound from 102.01 previously and declined to 59.11 per 100 Japanese yen from 58.99.

It, however, softened to 81.84 per euro from 81.81.