Rupee closes weaker at 42.16/17 per USD

Mumbai, Aug 11 (UNI) The Rupee today weakened by at least ten paise to close at 42.16/17 against the US Dollar from its previous close of 42.06/07 on strong buying spree from large corporates in late trade.

The partially convertible Indian currency opened firm at 42.04/06 and strengthened further to touch a day's high at 41.90/91 in early trade on positive global cues due to fall in oil prices but later shed early gains and closed weaker, dealers said.

''For most of the time, rupee remained firm near the day's high level but slipped sharply in late trade after reports that the government may further tighten the external commercial borrowing norms,'' a senior dealer with a leading private sector bank said.

The market witnessed heavy buying of dollars in late trade by the large corporates and banks that pushed the Indian unit at weaker end, he added.

Rupee touched a day's low of 42.23/24 per dollar before closing after a slight recovery in late trade.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) today fixed the reference rate for US dollar at Rs 42.00 per unit, down by 20 paise against Friday's rate of Rs 42.20 per dollar.

The six-month and annualised forward premium was quoted lower at 4.27 (4.37) per cent and 3.38 (3.52) per cent, respectively.

The Rupee ended the day stronger at 63.61 (63.30) per unit against the Euro. It closed at 80.96 (80.61) per unit against the Pound Sterling. Rupee ended at 38.42 (38.19) per hundred units against the Japanese Yen.

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