Mumbai: The Indian rupee on Tuesday washed out its initial gains against the American currency and ended two paise down at over one-month low of 62.19 on late dollar demand from banks and importers.
The Indian currency resumed higher at 62.15 as against Monday's close of 62.17 at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market. It later firmed up to hit a high of 61.92 on some dollar selling from banks and exporters in view of a strong equity market.
However, the rupee failed to maintain its initial gains and dropped to 62.20 per dollar before finishing at 62.19 per dollar, showing a loss of two paise or 0.03 per cent from its last close.
This is its weakest closing since 62.32 against the US dollar on January 9, 2015. The dollar index was up by 0.31 per cent against a basket of major global rivals. The dollar was slightly lower against the yen in Asian trade on Tuesday, with weakness in Japanese stock market encouraging investors to lock in profits after gains from robust US jobs data released last Friday.
In the New York market, the US dollar was lower against major rivals. Pramit Brahmbhatt, Veracity Group, CEO said, "The trading range for the spot USD/INR pair is expected to be within 61.70 to 62.70."
Meanwhile, the BSE benchmark Sensex snapped its seven-day losing streak and ended higher by 128.23 points or 0.45 per cent. The forward premia ended marginally higher on mild paying pressure from corporates. The benchmark six-month premium payable in July inched up to 217.5-219.5 paise from 217-219 paise previously.
Forward contracts maturing in January 2016 also moved up to 423-425 paise from 421-423 paise. The Reserve Bank of India fixed the reference rate for dollar at 61.9634 and for Euro at 70.2045.
The rupee dropped against the pound to 94.61 per pound from 94.54 per pound previously and moved up further against the euro to 70.15 per euro from 70.27. It firmed up further against the yen to 52.26 per 100 yen from 52.44 on Monday.
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