Rupee extends losses for 2nd day, down 5 paise to 66.76

In line with the equity market, the rupee today extended losses against the American currency, slipping by another 5 paise to close at 66.76 on persistent dollar demand from banks and importers.
The rupee opened lower at 66.80 a dollar against the overnight closing of 66.71 at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market and hovered in a range of 66.73 and 66.88 before ending at 66.76, still showing a loss of 5 paise or 0.07 per cent.
It has lost 11 paise or 0.17 per cent in last two days.
Meanwhile, the dollar index was up by 0.16 per cent against the basket of six global currencies in the late afternoon trade.

Meanwhile, the RBI fixed the reference rate for the dollar at 66.7948 and euro at 75.4714
In cross-currency trades, the rupee firmed up against the pound sterling to end at 96.24 from 96.51 yesterday and also moved up against the euro to 75.46 per euro from 75.65.

The domestic currency also looked up against the yen to 62.47 per 100 yens from 62.60 yesterday.
In cross-currency trades, the rupee ended virtually
steady against the pound sterling at 82.59, but rebounded sharply against the euro to settle at 72.61 as compared to 73.71 yesterday.
It also regained against the Japanese yen to finish at 62.47 from 64.47 per 100 yens earlier.

In the forward market, premium for dollar remained under pressure owing to sustained receiving by exporters.
The benchmark six-month premium for April slipped to 159.75-160.75 paise from 163.5-165 paise and the far-forward October 2017 contract also declined to 333.75-334.75 paise from 337.5-338.5 paise.
Meanwhile, stock market found its winning ways today as Sensex rose over 265 points and Nifty reclaimed the key 8,500-level on emergence of rally in bank stocks in anticipation of rise in deposits after withdrawal of high value notes and investors coming to terms with US poll result.
The 30-share Sensex concluded at at 27,517.68, showing a gain of 265.15 points. The Nifty also gained 93.75 points, or 1.11 per cent, to end at 8,525.75.