Rupee drops 5 paise to 65.02 vs USD on forex outflows

The rupee today retreated from one-month high level to close down by 5 paise at 65.02 against the US currency on fresh bouts of dollar demand from importers and corporate amid forex outflows.

The domestic currency had risen to one-month high of 64.85 at the outset on gains in equity markets following easing fears of trade war between the US and China.

However, the home currency struggled to preserve early strong gains and succumbed to fag-end selling pressure.

A follow-through weakness below the key 65-mark further dragged the rupee down to hit a fresh session low of 65.06 in late afternoon deals.

It finally settled the day at 65.02, showing a modest loss of 5 paise, or 0.08 per cent.

According to the provisional exchange data, foreign investors pulled out Rs 1,300 crore from stocks today.

The RBI, meanwhile, fixed the reference rate for the dollar at 64.9287 and for the euro at 79.6870.

In the meantime, country's foreign exchange reserves hit a life-time high of USD 424.361 billion, largely helped by rise in foreign currency assets, the Reserve Bank said.

Meanwhile, yield on the 10-year government bond rose to 7.23 per cent despite FPI investment hike limits in central government securities.

The RBI hiked the FPI investment limit in government securities (G-Secs) to 5.5 percent in 2018-19 and 6 per cent by the end of the next financial year.

Globally, the dollar dropped against the major world currencies. The dollar index, which measures the greenback's value against a basket of six major currencies, was down 0.21 per cent at 89.91.

On the energy front, global oil prices were trading steady after a 2 per cent fall on Friday. The benchmark Brent was trading at fresh seven-month low of USD 67.60 a barrel in early Asian trade.

In the cross currency trade, the local unit fell back sharply against the pound sterling to end at 91.76 from 90.96 and retreated against the euro to finish at 79.81 as compared to 79.59 earlier.

The Indian unit also drifted against the Japanese yen to close at 60.68 per yens from 60.53.

In forward market today, premium for dollar declined due to mild receiving from exporters.

The benchmark six-month forward premium payable in August edged down to 101-103 paise from 102-104 paise and the far-forward February 2019 contract also eased to 222-224 paise from 223-225 paise previously.