Rupee retreats on weak shares, dollar rise
Rupee retreats on weak shares, dollar rise
Mumbai: The rupee fell further on Tuesday afternoon, after touching a 7-week high in the previous session, weak local shares and a broadly strong dollar overseas dented sentiment.
At 1:45pm, the partially convertible rupee was at ₹ 45.2750/2800 per dollar, weaker than Monday’s close of ₹ 44.985/995, when it had touched ₹ 44.985, a level not seen since 4 January.
The euro fell one percent on the day against the dollar and the New Zealand dollar tumbled to a near 2 month low on Tuesday as escalating Middle East tensions and a New Zealand earthquake sparked safe haven flows into the greenback.
The dollar index against six major currencies was up 0.8% at 78.283 points.
The South Korean won led a broad decline in emerging Asian currencies on Tuesday as fears of growing political unrest in the Middle East triggered a spike in oil prices and caused short-term investors to shun riskier assets.
The one-month offshore non-deliverable forward contracts were quoted at 45.47, weaker than the onshore spot rate.
Shares eased 0.6% as investors fretted over the implications of the ever spreading political turmoil in Middle East.
In the currency futures market, the most traded near-month dollar-rupee contracts on the National Stock Exchange, MCX-SX and the United Stock Exchange were all at 45.3300, with the total traded volume on the three exchanges at about $4.34 billion.
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