Moving in tandem with weak local equities, the rupee depreciated further by 18 paise on Tuesday to close at 44.51/52 against the U.S. currency, due to continued demand from importers and some banks on the back of a firm trend overseas. “Indian equities after the hike in credit policies reacted negatively and closed down by almost 2.5 per cent, which depreciated the rupee as dollar also traded firm against major currencies. Further fall in rupee is expected due to demand in dollar from oil importers,” Alpari (Forex) India CEO Pramit Brahmbhatt said. “The trading range for the USD/INR will be between 44.30-44.80 tomorrow,” he added. At the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market, the domestic unit opened lower at 44.45/46 a dollar from previous close of 44.33/34. Later, it moved in a range of 44.30-44.54 before concluding the day at 44.51/52. Continued dollar demand from importers and some banks on the back of higher dollar overseas too weighed on the rupee. The dollar index, consisting of six major currencies, was up by 0.10 per cent in European trade today. The rupee premium for the forward dollar closed mixed. The benchmark six-month forward dollar premium payable in October closed down at 158-160 paise from Monday’s close of 160-162 paise, while far-forward contracts maturing in April settled higher at 317—319 paise from 315-317 paise in the previous session. The RBI has fixed the reference rate for the dollar at Rs. 44.34 and the euro at Rs. 65.75. The rupee recovered against the pound sterling to end at Rs. 73.38/40 from Monday’s close of Rs. 74.02/04, while eased further against the euro to Rs. 65.82/84 from Rs .65.80/82 yesterday. It, also, dropped against the Japanese yen to Rs. 55.11/13 per 100 yen from its last close of Rs. 54.45/47.

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