Rupee loses nine paise at 44.47/48/USD due to foreign fund outflow

Mumbai, Mar 8 (UNI) The rupee today closed weaker by nine paise at 44.44/47 per US dollar as against the last close of 44.35/36, a dealer at the forex market here said.

The stock markets saw a huge fall, led by 216 points, on the Bombay Stock Exchange Sensitive Index to 10,508 points due to heavy foreign funds outflow, which had a major impact on the rupee, pulling it down substantially.

Earlier in the morning, the Indian unit opened weaker by two to three paise at 44.3750/3850, as against the last close of 44.35/36, the dealer added.

The rupee traded in the range of 44.3750 to 44.4150 in the mid-morning session.

Other factors in favour of the rupee like the inflow of Rs 247 crore in the stock markets on Monday, as reported by SEBI, failed to prevent rupee's slide.

The crude oil prices softened further at USD 61.47 per barrel in the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX), but the impact was negated by losses in the stock markets.

RBI fixed the reference rate for the rupee at 44.42 per USD.

The six-month forward premia ended lower at 2.64 per cent from Tuesday's close at 2.76 per cent.

The one-year forward premia also closed lower at 2.08 per cent, as compared to the last close of 2.14 per cent.

The cross-currency rate for the rupee against the euro was 11 paise up at 52.82 (52.71), for pound sterling it was 77.04 (77.86), closing lower by 82 paise from its last close and for the Japanese yen it was 37.59 (37.55), up by four paise.

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