The rupee today ended lower by eight paise against the US dollar on month-end dollar demand amid weak equities.
At the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market, the domestic unit opened lower at 46.74/75 a dollar and traded in a narrow range.
The domestic unit closed the day at 46.74/75 , down eight paise from its previous close.
The dollar was firm against its major rivals in overseas market which partly weighed on the rupee, a forex dealer said.
Month-end dollar demand from oil companies as well as importers to meet their import requirements too put some pressure on the rupee.
In overseas market, the dollar hit a two-month high against the yen keeping up the firm tone it has developed recently on shifting sentiment about outlook for the US rates following improving economic data.
The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex today dropped by nearly 58 points or 0.33 per cent to 17,343.82.
Meanwhile, the global Crude oil prices continued to rule near USD 79 a barrel amid a surprise rise in US weekly crude inventory ahead of the release of government data.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) fixed the reference rate for the US dollar at Rs 46.73 per dollar and for the single European currency at Rs 67.02 per euro.
Rupee premiums for the forward dollar ended lower on fresh receivings by exporters.
The benchmark six-month forward dollar premium payable in June ended weak at 69-1/2-71 paise from 71-72-1/2 paise on Tuesday and far-forward maturing in December also closed down at 133-1/2-135-1/2 paise from 136-138 paise previously.
In cross-currency trade, the domestic currency rose against the Pound, the Euro and the yen.
The rupee moved up against the pound to end at Rs 74.07/09 per pound from Tuesday's close of Rs 74.68/70 and also rose against the euro to Rs 67.03/05 per euro from Rs 67.28/30 previously.
It improved further against the Japanese yen to Rs 50.69/71 per 100 yen from its last close of Rs 50.87/89.
Source : outlookindia.com