Shaky rupee loses ground further, hurtles to 1-year low

Mumbai: The rupee weakened on Friday for a fifth consecutive session and touched a fresh 1-year low, dragged down by the euro’s losses and continuing strong dollar demand from domestic oil refiners.

Choppy local shares and mixed Asian currencies were of little help to the rupee, traders said. At 10:55 am (0525 GMT), the partially convertible rupee was at 46.42/43, 0.5 percent weaker than Thursday’s close of 46.19/20 after touching 46.4750, its lowest in a year.

[caption id=“attachment_79837” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“The rupee has breached the 46.30 level, and the next support level is seen at around 46.50. Reuters”]  [/caption]

“Weakness in the euro has been the major reason for the rupee’s fall, with oil demand adding to the selling spree. Now that the rupee has breached the 46.30 level, the next support level should be around 46.50,” said a dealer with a foreign bank.

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The euro was at $1.3892, sharply weaker from $1.4040 when the rupee closed on Thursday, while the index of the dollar against six major currencies was at 76.228 points from 75.587 previously.

The euro has come under significant pressure, touching a two-month low on Thursday after the European Central Bank halted a cycle of interest rate rises, saying inflation risks were no longer skewed to the upside and economic growth would be slow at best.

The BSE Sensex index was in negative territory on Friday morning, as Asian peers ran out of steam and global growth worries cast gloom.

Global markets have been dominated in recent weeks by fears of a US relapse into recession and Europe’s debt crisis. Oil is India’s biggest import item and local oil refiners are the largest purchasers of dollars in the domestic currency market.

The one-month onshore forward premium was at 20 points from 19.00 on Thursday, while the three-month was at 53.50 points from 49.50 and the one-year was at 152.25 points from 147.50.

One-month offshore non-deliverable forward contracts were quoted at 46.67, weaker than the onshore spot rate. In the currency futures market, the most traded near-month dollar-rupee contracts on the National Stock Exchange, the MCX-SX and the United Stock Exchange were all at 46.5725. The total volume was $2.04 billion.

Reuters