Rupee dips as shares remain under pressure

The rupee lost ground on Monday against the dollar, bucking the trend among Asian peers, as local shares continued to reel with foreign investors turning sellers amid disappointment over the lack of specifics in the union Budget.

Emerging Asian currencies mostly inched higher on Monday, stabilising after taking a fall late last week, as investor jitters over problems at a Portuguese bank eased.

Caution also prevailed ahead of June consumer inflation data, which was out after market close.

The figure stood at 7.31 per cent, below a Reuters poll estimate of 7.95 per cent.

Data earlier showed the wholesale price index (WPI) easing to a four-month low of 5.43 percent as largely expected.

Investors were also waiting for Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen's congressional testimony due later on Monday, especially since it comes on the back of an improvement in U.S. data in the second quarter.

"I continue to be a dollar bull, as technicals indicate the pair may not breach the 59.85-60.45 range in the immediate term. Then there is the dollar demand arising from various quarters," said Navin Raghuvanshi, a currency trader at DCB Bank in Mumbai.

The partially convertible rupee ended at 60.07/08 per dollar compared with 59.93/94 on Friday.

Also hurting the rupee was a fifth straight session of fall in Indian shares after overseas investors sold stocks worth $215.4 million on Friday, after buying a net $1.6 billion in six straight sessions up to Thursday, regulatory data showed.

In the offshore non-deliverable forwards, the one-month contract was at 60.34, while the three-month was at 60.87.

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