Snapping its four-day winning spree against the American currency, the rupee today dropped by 18 paise to close at 67.45 on fresh dollar demand from banks and importers on the back of higher greenback overseas amid fall in equities.
The rupee opened lower at 67.32 as against Monday's closing level of 67.27 at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market and dropped further to 67.5150 before finishing at 67.45 per dollar, still showing a loss of 18 paise or 0.26 per cent.
The rupee had gained by 68 paise or 1 per cent in the previous four days.
The domestic unit hovered in a range of 67.32 and 67.5150 during the day.
Meanwhile, the RBI fixed the reference rate for the dollar at 67.4028 and euro at 75.0328.
In cross-currency trades, the rupee firmed up further against the pound sterling to finish at 88.67 from 89.31 yesterday while fell against the euro to 75.27 from 74.88.
The domestic currency also moved down against the Japanese yen to 66.26 per 100 yens from 65.58.
In the global market, the US dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six rival currencies was trading up by 0.08 per cent in the late afternoon trade.
Investors fled anything considered a risky asset today sending the pound sharply lower and the yen rallying, as fears over the Brexit fallout again took a toll on markets.
In the forward market, premium for dollar remained under
severe pressure owing to sustained receiving by exporters.
The benchmark six-month premium for March declined to 179-181 paise from 182-184 paise and the forward-September 2017 contract also slipped to 356.5-357.5 paise from 360-362 paise previously.
Domestic equities retreated after a three-day rally on fresh profit-taking amid lacklustre global cues.
The benchmark BSE Sensex slumped by 113.57 points to close at 28,220.98, while broader Nifty fell by 25.20 points to 8,743.95.
Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 344.13 crore yesterday, according to provisional data.
Crude prices shot up over 1 per cent in Asian trading after a private agency report in US showed oil inventories may have dropped for a fifth straight week.
The upmove was also received a much needed bump overnight as OPEC appears to have finally agreed that cuts are needed to stabilise global prices.
