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Rupee falls by 11 paise vs dollar

Mumbai, Apr 11 (PTI) The rupee today tumbled by 31 paise to close at 44.38/39 as against the US currency, following fresh dollar demand from importers, amid sluggish equities despite continued capital inflows. "Rupee corrected from its five-and-a-month high, taking cues from IIP Data which was well below expectations and weak local equities which ended in red. Internationally dollar index remained range bound," Alpari Forex (India) CEO Pramit Brahmbhatt said. "Expect the rupee to range bound between 44.10-44.50 in the coming days," he added. According to forex dealers there was good dollar demand from corporates as well as some buying by oil refiners on high oil prices, which heavily weighed on the rupee. Bearish local equities, too, put pressure on the rupee as the BSE benchmark Sensex today closed sharply down by nearly 189 points, or 0.97 per cent, at 19,262.54 extending losses for the fifth straight session. In fairly active trade at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market, the domestic unit opened slightly better at 44.05/06 a dollar from last weekend's close of Rs 44.07/08. Later, it gradually moved downwards to settle the day at 44.38/39, exhibiting a steep fall of 0.73 per cent. The dollar index, consisting of six major currencies, was up by 0.09 per cent in european market today, which also impacted negatively on the rupee. US crude oil was trading above USD 112 a barrel in London today. Meanwhile, Index of Industrial Production (IIP) grew by a mere 3.6 per cent in February 2011, compared to 15.1 per cent during the same period of last year. The rupee premium for the forward dollar ended lower on fresh receivings by exporters. The benchmark six-month forward dollar premium payable in September ended down at 146-1/2-148 paise from 148-3/4-149-3/4 paise last Friday. Far-forward contracts maturing in March also finished lower at 292-1/2-294 paise from 294-296 paise previously. The Reserve Bank of India has fixed the reference rate for the dollar at Rs 44.20 and the euro at Rs 63.90. The rupee remained weak against the pound sterling to close at 72.56/58 from last weekend's close of Rs 72.11/13 and also dropped further to Rs 64.14/16 per euro from Rs 63.52/54 in the previous session. It, however, fell back sharply against the Japanese yen to end at Rs 52.42/44 per 100 yen from last close of Rs 51.67/69.