Rupee continues to reel under intense pressure for 3rd straight week

Zee Media Bureau

New Delhi: Indian rupee continued to reel under intense pressure for the third straight week and depreciated by 31 paise to close at a fresh two-year low of 66.14 against the American unit in the local currency market after witnessing its steepest single day fall this year as China-related global meltdown fears remained unabated.

Besides, robust dollar demand from importers and banks, the greenback's strength against other Asian currencies and a massive fall in local equities predominantly pressurized the home currency, forex dealers said.

At the Interbank Foreign Exchange market, the domestic unit commenced sharply lower at 66.47 a dollar from last weekend's close of 65.83 and lost further ground to hit a low of 66.76.

However, it witnessed a remarkable turnaround during the mid-week to touch a high of 65.86 briefly before sliding back to finish at 66.14, showing a loss of 31 paise, or 0.47 percent.

Positive comments from RBI governor Raghuram Rajan that the Indian economy was showing signs of a pick-up and macroeconomic fundamentals of the country are much better than peers and also easing concerns over an imminent Fed rate hike mainly helped the rupee cut shot its losses to some extend.

Rupee has lost 233 paise or 3.65 percent in the last three-week correction.

On the global front, dollar ended at one-week high, extending a fourth straight session of gains on the back of robust macro data despite this week's market meltdown.

With PTI Inputs