Rupee down 40 paise against dollar in early trade

The rupee has been weighed down by the US dollar's gains against other currencies

The rupee today fell by 40 paise to 59.74 in early trade on the Interbank Foreign Exchange market today, weighed down by the US dollar's gains against other currencies.

 

Forex dealers said besides dollar's gain against other currencies overseas after US Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke said the bank had no plan to wind down its stimulus until the economy was back on track, increased demand for the American currency from importers put pressure on the rupee.

 

They said, however, a higher opening in the domestic equity market, capped the rupee's losses.

 

The rupee had lost three paise to close at 59.34 against the US dollar yesterday, failing to sustain gains driven by the easing of FDI norms in various sectors and the RBI's liquidity-tightening measures.

 

Meanwhile,the BSE benchmark Sensex regained 20,000-points level by rising 104.12 points, or 0.52%, to 20,052.85 in early trade today.