The Indian rupee on Tuesday fell sharply by 30 paise to close at 45.74/75 against the greenback due to steep fall in equity markets despite late dollar buying by oil refiners.
In fairly active trade at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market, the local currency resumed strong at 45.36/37 against Monday’s close of 45.44/45 on expectations of more capital inflows.
Dealers said weakness in equity markets following steep fall on the Wall Street last night due to uncertainty over the $700 billion rescue plan by the US to stabilise the falling financial system weighed on the rupee, that touched a low of 45.97 a dollar in mid-afternoon.
The RBI fixed the reference rate for the dollar at Rs 45.72 and for the single European currency at Rs 67.60.
The rupee premiums on forward dollar ended slightly better on stray paying pressure from banks and corporates.
The benchmark six-month forward dollar premium payable in February ended at 32-1/2 - 34-1/2 paise, up from 32 – 34 paise up on Monday and the far-forward maturing in August also edged up to settle at 58 - 60 paise from 57 - 59 paise previously.
In cross-currency trades, the rupee dropped further against the pound, the euro and the Japanese yen.
The domestic currency dipped sharply against the pound to end the day at Rs 84.93/95 per pound from previous close of Rs 83.72/74 per pound and also slumped against the single European currency to Rs 67.57/59 per euro from overnight close of Rs 66.31/33 per euro.
The rupee tumbled declined against the Japanese yen to Rs 43.38/40 per 100 yen from last close of Rs 42.68/70 per 100 yen.