Rupee closes 22 paise lower

Continuing to fall for the second consecutive day, the rupee declined by 22 paise to settle at 66.46 against the US dollar on persistent demand for the American currency from banks and importers amidst foreign capital outflows.

Besides, a sharp fall in equity markets affected the rupee value against the dollar.

The rupee opened higher at 66.16 against yesterday's closing level of 66.24 at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market and firmed up further to 66.10 on initial dollar selling by banks.

However, it declined sharply to 66.52 on fresh demand for dollars from banks and importers before concluding at 66.46, showing a loss of 22 paise, or 0.33 per cent.

The rupee has dropped 27 paise, or 0.41 per cent, in two days.

It moved in a range of 66.10 and 66.52 during the day.

Globally, the US dollar was higher against its major rivals in early Asian trade after the European Central Bank gave a sobering assessment of the Eurozone economy and suggested that it may have to beef up its already massive stimulus programme.

However, the US dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, was up by 0.15 per cent.

Oil prices edged lower in cautious Asian trade today as investors await the release of a US jobs report for August that could determine the Federal Reserve's time-table for hiking interest rates.

Meanwhile, the benchmark BSE Sensex tumbled by 562.88 points, or 2.18 per cent, to settle at 25,201.90 today.