New Delhi: The rupee on Wednesday closed marginally lower at 57.15 to the dollar, down 14 paise, or 0.25 per cent.
The local currency was range-bound most of the day after closing flat on Tuesday on account of strong end-of-the-month greenback demand from state-run oil firms and weak global risk sentiment pressured the domestic currency.
Analysts had been expecting the Reserve Bank of India to intervene in case the rupee threatened to spiral into a free fall like it did on Tuesday, when the central bank propped up the rupee after it fell to as low as 57.20 at one point in the session, threatening to approach the record low of 57.32 hit on Friday.
The rupee has hit a succession of record lows this year in a slide that began in the middle of 2011. It has fallen about 7 per cent this year, making it the worst performing currency monitored daily in Asia by Reuters.
The local currency was range-bound most of the day after closing flat on Tuesday on account of strong end-of-the-month greenback demand from state-run oil firms and weak global risk sentiment pressured the domestic currency.
Analysts had been expecting the Reserve Bank of India to intervene in case the rupee threatened to spiral into a free fall like it did on Tuesday, when the central bank propped up the rupee after it fell to as low as 57.20 at one point in the session, threatening to approach the record low of 57.32 hit on Friday.
The rupee has hit a succession of record lows this year in a slide that began in the middle of 2011. It has fallen about 7 per cent this year, making it the worst performing currency monitored daily in Asia by Reuters.
