Rupee tumbles to two-month low of 45.90/91 Vs dollar

Mumbai, Jan 31 (PTI) The rupee lost 14 paise today to endat a fresh two-month low of 45.90/91 against the dollar onmonth-end demand for the US currency amid increased capitaloutflows.

Forex dealers said that the initial dip in the rupeevalue was due to early steep fall in local equities where theBombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex was down by over 357points. Besides, China, all other Asian indices too ended inthe red on worries over the instability in Egypt.

Continued capital outflows weighed heavy on the rupeesentiment, they added.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) pulled out USD129.51 million on last Friday, taking a total over USD 1.0billion in current month till January 28.

The Sensex finished the day 68 points down at 18,327.76.

At the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market, thedomestic unit opened sharply lower at 45.97/98 a dollar fromits last weekend''s close of 45.76/77 and immediately crossedthe 46-mark, after November 30, 2010, to touch a low of 46.05.

However, sustained month-end dollar demand from importersas well as oil refiners helped the rupee recover in the laterpart of the day.

The rupee later touched a high of 45.89 before concludingat 45.90/91, still lower than its previous close.

On the contrary, the dollar index, consisting of sixmajor currencies, was down by nearly 0.4 per cent while globalcrude oil was trading above USD 89 in European market today.

The rupee premium for the forward dollar ended with smallchanges either side. The benchmark six-month forward dollarpremium payable in June closed at 120-121-1/2 paise from120-122 paise on last Friday.

Far-forward contracts maturing in December finished a tadhigher at 245-1/2-247 paise from 244-1/2-246-1/2 paisepreviously.

The Reserve Bank of India has fixed the reference ratefor the dollar at Rs 45.95 and the euro at Rs 62.54.

The rupee remained weak to Rs 72.98/73.00 against thepound sterling from last weekend''s close of Rs 72.73/75 andalso moved down further against the yen to Rs 55.84/86 per 100yen from Rs 55.55/57 previously.

It, however, recouped to Rs 62.45/47 per euro from itslast close of Rs 62.87/89.