Rupee edges lower by 2 paise to 64.55 a dollar

The rupee today weakened further to close with a marginal loss of 2 paise at 64.55 against the American currency in limited trade on the back of stray dollar demand from importers.
Forex dealers said strength in the US dollar against some other currencies overseas and a weak trend in the domestic equities mainly weighed on the rupee trade.
Though, persistent foreign capital inflows largely cushioned the fall.
The domestic currency resumed lower at 64.55 as compared to Tuesday's close of 64.53 at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (forex) market and was largely confined to a tight range in the absence of any major moving factors.

It traded between 64.50 and 64.63 for most part of the day on bouts of dollar buying and selling before settling at 64.55, showing a nominal loss of 2 paise, or 0.03 per cent.
The RBI, meanwhile, fixed the reference rate for the dollar at 64.5288 and for the euro at 72.3757.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 292.11 crore yesterday, as per provisional data.
Meanwhile, bourses continued to see selling pressure as PSU banking shares extended their slide after being hit hard over concerns about provisioning for defaulted loans coupled with caution ahead of the expiry of June derivatives and jitters ahead of the GST rollout.

Most Asian stocks too ended in red.
On the global front, the greenback weakened broadly after US Senate Republicans postponed a vote on the Trump administration's healthcare bill on Tuesday.
The dollar index, which tracks the US currency against a basket of six major rivals, was little changed at 96.16.
In cross-currency trades, the rupee dropped further against the pound sterling to 82.77 from 82.34 per pound and also slumped sharply against the Euro to 73.44 from 72.73 yesterday.
The local unit, however, firmed up against the Japanese yen to end at 57.58 per 100 yens from 57.68 earlier.
In forward market today, premium for dollar also came down a bit on better receiving.

The benchmark six-month premium payable in November eased to 125-127 paise from 127-128 paise, while the far forward May 2018 contract also softened to 269-271 paise from 270-272 paise.
On the International commodity front, crude prices were largely steady after a spectacular four straight-day upsurge even as worries about global oversupply and latest US inventory data underpinned trading sentiment.