Defying a smart rebound in local equities, the rupee today lost 4 paise against the US currency to end at 66.74 on fresh dollar demand from importers and corporates.
A rebound in US dollar in response to the FBI announcement clearing Hillary Clinton of any offences heading into the US presidential election and also sustained capital outflows predominantly kept home currency under pressure.
Trading, however, remained thin as currency traders preferred to stay on the sidelines and avoided taking any long positions against the backdrop of pre-US election jitters.
Meanwhile, domestic bourses made a resounding comeback as sentiment turned calm after the recent storm on world financial markets over the weekend developments.
The rupee resumed lower at 66.74 as compared with last closing of 66.70 at the Inter-bank Foreign Exchange (forex) market with the dollar generally stronger across the board.
It quickly rebounded to hit an intra-day high of 66.6750 in late morning deals, but the brief attempt to recover ground was capped by fresh dollar demand.
The domestic unit fell back to 66.76 on high dollar demand before ending at 66.74, revealing a loss of 4 paise, or 0.06 per cent. The rupee had recovered by five paise against the dollar on Friday.
Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) continued their selling spree for the second straight week and offloaded shares worth USD 225.06 million as per Sebi's record.
The near-term outlook for the forex market will be driven by the outcome of the US presidential election and currency traders are likely to maintain caution ahead of the election results in the world's largest economy, a forex dealer said.
In the forward market, premium for dollar rebounded
sharply due to fresh paying pressure from corporates.
The benchmark six-month premium for May rose to 136-138 paise from 129.5-131.5 paise and the far-forward November 2017 contract also jumped to 282-294 paise from 272.5-274.5 paise yesterday.
Meanwhile, the flagship Sensex dropped 155.89 pts to end at 26,236.87, while Nifty shed 41.10 pts to 8,102.05.
Crude prices displayed a stead trend on Wednesday amid profit-taking after recent sharp rally as investors waited to see if OPEC and Russia would deliver promised production cuts designed to end a supply overhang that has weighed on the market for more than two years.
