Recovery in crude oil, outflow of funds dent rupee

Recovery in global crude oil prices coupled with outflow of funds from Indian equity and bonds markets dented the Indian rupee's value against the US dollar on Friday.

The Indian currency closed at 66.15 to a dollar, down 10 paise from its previous close of 66.05 on Thursday. The rupee had touched an intra-day high of 66.21.

On Thursday the rupee gained by 9 paise and closed at 66.05 to a US dollar from Wednesday's close of 66.14.

"Rupee lost some ground today against the US Dollar and the carry currencies like Euro and Yen," Anindya Banerjee, associate vice president for currency derivatives with Kotak Securities, said.

"Indian rupee can remain within a range of 65.50 and 67.00 levels against the US dollar. In case, the pair moves above 67.00, the risk of a spiral towards 68.50 or 69.00 can arise."

The rupee has lost strength even as the barometer index of the Indian equity markets-- the 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) gained 161 points or 0.61 percent on Friday.

Even the rise in global crude oil prices has impacted the rupee value. Stable world markets coupled with hopes of a healthier global economic growth and demand have lifted the Indian basket of crude oil prices to $44.28 a barrel.