Rupee falls for second day, down 15 paise

Extending its losses for the second straight session, the rupee on Friday fell by another 15 paise to 66.77 a dollar on sustained demand for the US currency from banks and importers on the back of higher greenback overseas amidst sharp fall in domestic equities.

The rupee resumed lower at 66.78 per dollar as against the yesterday's closing level of 66.62 at the Interbank Foreign Exchange market and moved down further to 66.83 before finishing at 66.77, showing a loss of 15 paise or 0.23 per cent. The rupee has dropped by 21 paise or 0.32 per cent in the last two days.

The domestic currency hovered in a range of 66.71 and 66.83 per dollar during the day. In the global market, the dollar traded moderately higher on Thursday against euro and yen, extending a recent streak of gains after hawkish comments from several Federal Reserve officials. However, the dollar turned slightly lower against yen during the late Asian trade on Friday, as investors awaited US retail sales data due later in the day. The US currency fell into a tailspin recently, touching an 18-month low of ¥105.55 on May 3 following the Bank of Japan's inaction.

The market benchmark Sensex fell by 301 points to close at 25,489.57 on fresh selling pressure from operators on speculation that the Reserve Bank would restrain itself from cutting rates during its policy review next month following rise in inflation and dip in industrial output growth.