Rupee ends weak at 57.99 as FM disappoints the Street

The rupee ended on a weak note on Thursday as there was disappointment in the Street over the lack of concrete measures from Finance Minister P Chidambaram to arrest the currency's fall against the dollar.

The rupee ended at 57.99 today against the previous close of 57.79. Besides, a fall in equities added to the woes of the Street.

Today, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) continued to pull out from domestic markets, which also dampened the sentiments.

The rupee had opened at 58.13 a dollar and touched a high of 57.95 and a low of 58.56 during intra-day trades. It recovered a large part of its losses today on the back of dollar sales by corporate and exporters. According to data from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), FIIs sold $299.33 million on Thursday, compared with $533.55 million on Wednesday.

The Street had expected Chidambaram to announce some measures to arrest the rupee fall. However, those hopes did not materialise, due to which the rupee ended weak against previous close.

"The market was looking for some concrete steps, but nothing concrete was announced by the finance minister, hence the sell-off," said Vikas Babu Chittiprolu, a senior foreign exchange dealer with state-run Andhra Bank. "At higher levels, however, exporters came in to sell, helping the rupee recover quite a bit." Meanwhile, Chidambaram said there was no need to panic. According to him, the rupee will find the correct level on its own.

Sandeep Gonsalves, forex consultant and dealer at Mecklai & Mecklai, said the rupee is expected to trade in the range of 57.80 to 58.50 a dollar on Friday.