ET:Rupee down as importer dollar demand, shares weigh
MUMBAI: Rupee weakened in afternoon trades on Tuesday on the back of defence-related dollar buying and oil importers' demand for the greenback, while negative shares also weighed.
At 3:36 p.m., the partially convertible rupee was at 52.0325/0400 per dollar, weaker than Monday's close of 51.9550/9650. It has moved in a 51.88-52.13 band so far.
Sensex were subdued on Tuesday as economic concerns came to the fore and mounting political opposition to reforms such as opening up the supermarket sector to foreign giants unnerved investors.
Oil is India's largest import item and oil refiners are the largest buyers of dollars in the local market. Demand typically increases towards the month-end, when refiners step-up dollar purchases to make payments.
Earlier in the day, software exporters selling dollars had aided the unit.
The euro was trading at $1.3367, compared with $1.3370 when the rupee closed on Monday, while the index of the dollar against six major currencies was at 78.880 points versus 78.884 previously.
