The Indian rupee on Tuesday snapped three sessions of rise and closed by fifteen paise lower to 48.72/73 against the greenback on a firm dollar overseas despite fresh capital inflows.
Expectations of a $829 billion economic recovery package passing in the US Senate today also weighed on the rupee.
In quiet trade at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market, the domestic unit opened lower at 48.68/69 per dollar from the last close of 48.57/58 and moved down further to settle at 48.72/73.
It moved in a narrow range of 48.65 and 48.79. The dollar was up against its major rivals in Asian trade today in anticipation of the passing of the stimulus package by the US Senate on Tuesday.
The Indian benchmark Sensex was up by another 64 points or 0.66 per cent while Asian indices showed a mixed performance.
Meanwhile, global crude oil prices were quoting below $40 a barrel in Asian trade on Tuesday.
The Reserve Bank of India, however, fixed the reference rate for the US dollar at Rs 48.70 and for the euro at Rs 62.54.
The rupee premiums on the forward dollar ended with slight changes on occasional paying pressure from banks and corporates.
The benchmark six-month forward dollar premium payable in July ended stable at 47-1/2-49-1/2 paise from 47-1/2-49 paise on Monday and the far-forwards maturing in January closed slightly better at 84-1/2-86-1/2 from 84-86 paise previously.
In cross-currency trade, the rupee recovered against the pound sterling while ended sharply lower against the euro and the Japanese yen.
The local currency rose against the pound sterling to end at Rs 72.13/15 from the overnight close of Rs 72.41/43 while declined against the euro to Rs 63.24/26 from Rs 62.97/99 previously.
It also dropped against the Japanese yen to close at Rs 53.38/40 per 100 yen from last close of Rs 52.97/99.
Source : profit.ndtv.com