Rupee falls for the second day, down 9 paise against USD to end at 59.29

Mumbai: The rupee fell for the second day and closed nine paise down at 59.29 against the dollar on sustained demand for the US currency from importers. Hesitancy in local equities also weighed on the rupee even as sustained FII inflows worth Rs 680 crore continued to give support to the currency and restricted its fall to some extent, say forex dealers.

At the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market, the domestic unit commenced lower at 59.25 a dollar from previous close of 59.20. It was trapped in a narrow breadth of 59.22 and 59.3350, before ending at 59.29, a fall of nine paise or 0.15 per cent. "Suspected intervention by the central bank was seen in the afternoon and demand for the greenback from importers put pressure on rupee," said Kiran Kumar Kavikondala, Director & CEO, WealthRays Securities. On June 9, the rupee had fallen by three paise.

The Indian benchmark S&P BSE Sensex moved erratically and closed almost stable, but just in positive terrain at a new peak. The dollar index was up by 0.24 per cent against its major global peers ahead of data on job openings and wholesale inventories. The premium for forward dollar fell back sharply on fresh receipts by importers. The benchmark six-month premium payable in November dipped to 241-243 paise from 249-251 paise previously. Far-forward contracts maturing in May, 2015 also tumbled to 487-489 paise from 505-507 paise.

The Reserve Bank of India fixed the reference rate for dollar at 59.2647 and for the euro at 80.5934. The rupee fell back slightly against pound to 99.50 from 99.47 previously and also turned negative to end down at 57.94 per 100 Japanese yen from 57.78. However, it recovered against the euro to 80.32 from 80.56.