Rupee touches 50-level after six weeks, down 20 paise

Mumbai, Mar 6: The rupee touched 50-level after a gap of nearly six weeks against the American currency in the late morning trade on persistent dollar demand from importers despite weakness of dollar in overseas.

Initially, the rupee was also under pressure from weak stock markets, amid election results for five states. The markets moved into the green zone in the late morning trade.

The rupee resumed lower at 49.94/95 per dollar at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market as against the last closing level of 49.84/85 per dollar and dropped further to 50.04 per dollar before quoting at 50.01/02 per dollar at 1030hrs.

The domestic currency hovered in a range of 49.93 per dollar and 50.04 per dollar during the morning deals. Sustained dollar demand from importers mainly affected the rupee value against the dollar, a forex dealer said. Crude oil prices edged higher in Asian trade despite weak economic data from Europe and China, analysts said.

New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in April, gained 18 cents to USD 106.90 and Brent North Sea crude for April was up 21 cents to USD 124.01 in morning trade.

PTI