Rupee declines by 13 paise at 46.11/12 vs dollar

The rupee today declined by 13 paise to close at 46.11/12 against the US currency due to sustained dollar demand from importers despite smart recovery in local stocks.

At the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market, the local unit opened weak at 46.11/12 a dollar from yesterday's close of 45.98/99.

On alternate bouts of demand and supply it moved in a range of 45.96 and 46.17 but ended at its opening level of 46.11/12, a fall of 0.28%. Yesterday, it was down by 19 paise or 0.41%.

Dealers attributed initial fall in the rupee value to sluggish equities. The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex opened weak and was down by over 225 points in early trade.

However, dollar demand from importers and some banks in the later part of the day weighed on the rupee, they added.

"Dollar demand from oil importers helped dollar to gain against the rupee," Alpari Financial Services (India) CEO Pramit Brahmbhatt said.

Erasing early losses, the Sensex gained 149 points to reach 3-week high of 16,862.81.

"The rupee closed at 46.11, as global growth concerns heightened risk aversion. It touched a high of 45.96 as the euro gained against the dollar and local shares turned positive. Most Asian currencies were trading weak against the Greenback," Abhishek Goenka, CEO, India Forex advisors said.

The dollar index was up by 0.16% against a basket of currencies and New York crude oil was trading above USd 84 a barrel in European market today.