Rupee slips from 1-week high, down 13 paise to 67.16

Breaking its three-day rising trend, the rupee retreated from its one-week high to close at 67.16 against the US currency on fresh bouts of dollar demand from importers. A renewed strength in dollar, which climbed to a two-month high against other major currencies, predominantly pressurised the local unit.

However, expectations of strong capital inflows amid surging local equities helped the domestic currency in recouping some losses, a forex dealer said. The greenback has strengthened broadly in recent weeks since the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) released its hawkish April meeting minutes and comments by Fed officials suggested that the US central bank could raise rates as soon as early next month.

At the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market, the domestic unit commenced substantially lower at 67.21 compared to last weekend’s closing level of 67.03 and kept descending to hit a fresh intra-day low of 67.37 due to strong dollar demand.

But, it staged a remarkable rebound toward the fag-end following some dollar selling through state-run banks and finally settled at 67.16, revealing a loss of 13 paise, 0.19 per cent. Meanwhile, the RBI fixed the reference rate for the dollar at 67.3398 and euro at 74.8415.

In cross-currency trades, the rupee maintained its firmness against the pound sterling and finished at 98.12 from 98.19 and also edged up against the euro to settle at 74.82 compared to 74.85 last weekend. The home unit recovered sharply against the yen to end at 60.46 per 100 yens from 61.12 previously.