Snapping four-session gaining spree, the rupee on Monday lost 36 paise to close at 49.05/06 against the dollar due to fresh buying of the American currency by importers.
Forex dealers said renewed dollar demand from importers and some banks on hopes of further rise in the US currency’s value in near future also weighed against the rupee.
Bullish local stocks and sustained capital inflows, however, capped the fall in rupee’s value, they added.
The local unit moved between 48.60/61 and 49.14 at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market, before settling 36 paise down, or 0.74 per cent, at 49.05/06.
The dollar index was up by nearly 0.5 per cent against a basket of currencies in the European market today on surprisingly better-than-expected US employment data and unresolved debt crisis in Greece last weekend.
Meanwhile, the BSE benchmark index Sensex today rose by 102.35 points to17,707.31.
FIIs injected almost $1.17 billion in equities in the last week, as per Sebi data, taking the total to above $3.2 billion in the current calendar year till February 3.
The rupee premium for the forward dollar recovered slightly on fresh paying pressure from banks and corporates.
The benchmark six-month forward dollar premium payable in July edged up to 160-162 paise from last Friday’s close of 159-161 paise and far-forward contracts maturing in January also ended better at 272-1/2-274-1/2 paise from 268-1/2- 270-1/2 paise. The RBI has fixed the reference rate for the US dollar at 48.6790 and for euro at 63.5678.
The rupee fell back against the pound sterling to settle at Rs 77.27/29 from last weekend’s close of Rs 77.09/11 while remained strong against the euro to end at Rs 64.13/15 from Rs 65.45/47. It, however, bounced back against the Japanese yen to Rs 64.03/05 per 100 yen from Rs 65.14/16 last weekend