Rupee down 3 paise to 60.53

Continuing its fall for a third straight session, the rupee on Monday lost three paise to close at 60.53 against the US currency, following sustained dollar demand from importers amid firm cues from overseas.

Fresh capital outflows also weighed on the rupee but bullish local equities restricted the fall to a major extent, a forex dealer said. At the interbank foreign exchange market, the domestic unit commenced slightly lower at 60.52 a dollar from last weekend's close of 60.50 and was trapped in a narrow range of 60.4250 and 60.55 before settling at 60.53, a fall of three paise, or 0.05 per cent. The BSE benchmark on Monday zoomed by 229.44 points to 26,867.55, completing long seven-session of gaining string.