Re plunges 60 paise to end at 51.18/19 vs dollar

The Indian rupee today plunged by 60 paise to end below 51 to the greenback after a gap of six trading days, at 51.18/19, following a sharp decline in equity markets amid month-end dollar demand.

A firm dollar overseas against its major rivals also put pressure on the rupee.

In fairly active at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market, the domestic currency resumed weak at 50.90/92 a dollar against its previous close of 50.58/59 and moved in a range of 50.87 and 51.32 a dollar.

It, however, ended at 51.18/19, a steep fall of 1.19 per cent over its last close.

Forex dealers said the rupee came under heavy selling pressure as equity markets displayed distinctly weak trends after last week's strong rally.

The Sensex today ended lower by 480.35 points or 4.78 per cent after a gain of 1,081.81 points or 12.06 per cent in the last week.

Asian indices also closed the day with sharp falls due to last Friday's steep decline on the Wall Street as Washington rejected restructuring plans for automakers.

Month-end dollar demand from oil refiners as well as other importers for their import payments also weighed on the rupee.