The rupee fell for the second day amid volatility in the stock markets, dropping 25 paise to 61.52 against the dollar today on persistent demand from importers and banks as the US currency strengthened overseas.
The rupee opened at 61.35 per dollar as against the previous close of 61.27 at the interbank foreign exchange market. It dropped further to 61.58 before ending at 61.52, a loss of 25 paise or 0.41 per cent.
"It was a mixed session as the rupee was seen weakening on sustained dollar demand from importers and banks amid volatility in equity markets. On the other hand, consistent buying by FIIs helped the rupee to restrict losses," said Abhishek Goenka, CEO of India Forex Advisors.
The 30-share S&P BSE Sensex edged up 11 points to 20,893.89 after a choppy session.
Foreign institutional investors bought a net Rs 1,752.98 crore of shares on Friday, according to provisional data on the stock exchanges.
Oil prices rose by 10 cents to USD 100.91 a barrel in Asian trade today as dealers awaited long-delayed US economic data for clues about the health of the world's largest crude consumer, analysts said.
The US stimulus programme has been credited with fuelling a global equities rally for most of the year. The US central bank said in September that it would not wind down the programme if there was no broad improvement in the US economy.
"The dollar index, which measures the US currency's value against a basket of six major currencies, is trading slightly strong above yesterday's close, which further weakened the rupee," said Pramit Brahmbhatt, CEO of Alpari Financial Services (India).
