The Indian rupee that advanced to a 4-day high of 54.8150 against the US dollar in the morning session erased some of its gains in the afternoon. The rupee pulled back to below 55.0 against the dollar at the end of the session as domestic equities finished lower despite positive overnight cues.
Political uncertainty ahead of Mamata's no-confidence motion against UPA expected to be brought in the Winter session of Parliament and apprehensions about whether or not crucial economic bills will be passed weighed on markets today weighed down on sentiment.
Moody's rating downgrade of France sent the Asian equity sentiments down today. Paring early gains, the benchmark Sensex ended the session down 10 points or 0.05 percent at 18,329, while the broader Nifty index closed virtually unchanged.
The rupee gained against the dollar in the morning following reports showed that the government is considering a proposal to raise the foreign investment ceiling in government bonds by $5 billion. Meanwhile, there is no target for the rupee and the central bank would intervene in the forex market only to curb excessive volatility in exchange rate, media reports quoted RBI deputy governor Subir Gokarn as saying.
