Rupee retreats; falls 10 paise at 66.14 against USD

The rupee weakened by 10 paise to end at 66.14 against the US dollar due to month-end demand for the American currency from importers and banks.

Sustained capital outflows by foreign funds and a sudden spike in crude oil prices globally too weighed on the domestic currency, forex dealers said. However, a sluggish dollar overseas capped the losses.

The rupee resumed almost steady at 66.03 as compared to Thursday's closing level of 66.04 at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market on firm local equity markets amid dollar weakness.

But, the domestic unit reversed its trend in late afternoon trade, pressurised by renewed dollar demand and dropped to an intra-day low of 66.21 before rebounding to close at 66.14, showing a loss of 10 paise, or 0.15 per cent. The rupee had recovered 10 paise to close at 66.04 yesterday.

The dollar retreated against other major currencies following fresh unwinding by investors after sharp overnight rally sparked by robust second quarter GDP data and renewed expectations of an imminent interest rate hike by the US Federal Reserve.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was down 0.11 per cent at 95.64.

Meanwhile, the benchmark BSE Sensex rose by 161.19 points, or 0.61 per cent, to end at 26,392.38.