Rupee rebounds on dollar retreat; up 12 paise

Helped by a weaker US dollar in overseas markets, the rupee today recovered by 12 paise to close at 67.91 per dollar on selling of the American currency by banks and exporters.
The rupee yesterday had breached the 68 level to settle at two-week low of 68.03 after the dollar surged to a 14-year high level against major world currencies.
A subdued greenback overseas predominantly helped the rupee bounce back, a dealer said. However, losses in local stocks and some fag-end dollar demand from importers reduced the initial gains.
The intense foreign funds selling also kept the sentiment little shaky as they offloaded shares worth Rs 1,178.08 crore today, as per provisional bourses data.

At the Interbank Foreign Exchange (forex) market, the rupee resumed on positive note at 67.90. It largely moved in a narrow range of 67.84 and 67.96 before ending at 67.91, revealing a gain of 12 paise, or 0.18 per cent.
In overseas trade, the American currency traded lower against the yen and the euro in an Asian session as well as modest profit-taking after recent sharp gains. The US dollar index was trading lower at 102.92 in late afternoon trade.

Meanwhile, the RBI today fixed the reference rate for the dollar at 67.8724 and euro at 70.6077.
In cross-currency trades, the rupee gained further ground against the pound sterling to settle at 83.97 from 84.04, but fell back against the euro to finish at 70.66 as compared to 70.60 yesterday.

It also drifted against the Japanese yen to end at 57.83 from 57.74 per 100 yens earlier.
Meanwhile, the relentless selloffs in domestic equities remained unabated for the sixth-straight session with the benchmark Sensex losing 65.60 points to end at 26,242.38. Broader Nifty slipped 21.10 points to close at 8,061.30.
In the forward market, premium for dollar eased owing to continued receiving from exporters.
The benchmark six-month premium for May softened to 130-132 paise from 131-133 paise and the far-forward November 2017 contract also edged down to 275.5-277.5 paise from 277-279 paise yesterday.
On the global commodity front, crude prices rose sharply on expectations of decline in US crude inventories.