Rupee snaps 2 weeks gaining spree against on fresh dollar demand

Zee Media Bureau

New Delhi: Snapping its last 2-week gaining spree against the American currency, the rupee dropped by 21 paise to 66.54 per dollar on fresh dollar demand from banks and importers in view of foreign capital outflows amid higher dollar in the overseas market.

Persistent decline in equity market also the another factor behind the rupee's fall against the dollar, a forex dealer said. The Indian benchmark Sensex has dropped by 378.12 points or 1.48 percent during the week.

The rupee resumed lower at 66.41 per dollar as against the last weekend's level of 66.33 per dollar at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) Market and dropped further to 66.66 per dollar on good dollar demand from importers.

However, it recovered to 66.2250 on selling of dollars by banks and exporters before finishing the week at 66.54 per dollar, still showing a loss of 21 paise or 0.32 percent.

The Rupee had gained by 31 paise or 0.47 percent in previous two weeks.

At the global market,the dollar ended higher yesterday against the euro, though it notched a slight decline against the yen, after a volatile session that saw investors struggle to determine exactly how the Federal Reserve would interpret a report on April jobs growth.

Official data showed the US economy created far fewer jobs last month than economists had expected, triggering a knee-jerk sell-off in the US currency.

The ICE US dollar index DXY, a measure of the buck's strength against a basket of six rival currencies, was up 0.2 percent at 93.9110, for a 0.9 percent weekly gain.

With PTI Inputs