Rupee ends lower by 14 paise against USD

Mumbai, June 6: The Indian Rupee declined sharply against the US Dollar and lost by 14 paise to close at 40.66/67 from its previous close of 40.52/53.

The local currency opened weak at Rs 40.53/54 and trading was very quiet till the noon. However, market turned active when some corporate buying came in, dealers said.

The rupee fell to the low of Rs 40.70 on dollar selling by few foreign banks. The currency later, partially recovered from the day's low to close at 40.66/67, they said.

''There was some demand seen from the corporates as well as individual exporters when the selling came in from foreign banks,'' said a senior forex dealer at the leading private commercial bank.

The local currency which has been seen rising continuously for last several trading sessions and emerged one of the strongest currency in Asia. The rupee had so far posted a 9 per cent gain against the American greenback.

Commenting on the trend, Gautam Ashra, partner at the leading private forex firm Kanji Partner, opined that the rupee was expected to rise further, though it had witnessed a brief fall during the course of trading.

In the forwards, sixth month and annualised forward premia were closed higher at 2.63 (2.44) per cent and 2.72 (2.54) per cent respectively.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has fixed the reference rate at Rs 40.55 per US dollar, up by one paisa from yesterday's rate of Rs 40.56 per USD.

The rupee ended weak against all the three major world currencies in the cross currency trade.

Against Euro it closed at 54.92/93 (54.70/71) per unit. Rupee ended at 80.92/93 (80.64/65) against per sterling and it also finished lower against the Japanese yen at 33.55/56 (33.25/26) per 100 yen.

UNI