Rupee at nearly 2-week low, down 31p at 55.94 vs dollar

Forex dealers said sustained dollar demand from importers also put pressure on the rupee while persistent capital inflows provided some cushion for the rupee.

The rupee resumed slightly better at 55.60 a dollar from previous close of 55.63 at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market. It soon touched 55.53 on initial weakness in dollar value in early Asian trade today.

However, the trend turned negative as the rupee fell back to a low of 55.95 after mid-session on weakness in local shares amid a smart rebound in dollar in European trading.

The euro fell to a two-year low of USD 1.2175 against the dollar as investors fretted over the lack of progress in tackling the worsening EU debt crisis.

FIIs pumped in Rs 269 crore into local stocks today, which helped stem the rupee fall. The rupee finally closed at 55.94, a fall of 0.58 per cent. Yesterday, the currency had closed 24 paise down.

"The rupee extended its weakness for the second straight session breaching recent lows mostly tracking the weakness in global currencies which hit over two-year lows against USD," said Pramit Brahmbhatt,CEO, Alpari Financial Services (India).

Experts also feel that the recent strength in US dollar is on account of global risk-aversion sentiment returning.

"Looking at the dollar index, it has rallied drastically from 83.09 seen at the start of the week to 83.75 levels. This reflects the increasing demand of safe haven on account of risk aversion across the global markets," said Abhishek Goenka, Founder & CEO, India Forex Advisors.

Meanwhile, the Indian stock market benchmark Sensex tumbled by 256.59 points or 1.47 per cent. (MORE)