The rupee declined 17 paise on Tuesday to close at 60.69 against the dollar tracking weaker Asian currencies despite stronger flows into the domestic equity markets.
The Indian unit had ended flat at 60.52 on Monday.
Tuesday, it opened at 60.61 against the dollar at the Interbank Foreign Exchange market.
Capital flows into the equity markets helped the rupee gain to 60.53 intraday. The BSE-benchmark Sensex ended 152 points higher at 27,020 at day’s close. However, Asian currencies weakened against the dollar thereby pushing down the rupee sentiments.
Dealers said the rupee will continue to move with a downward bias in the short term even as the central bank will continue to intervene so as to avoid sharp volatility in the Indian currency.
During the day, the rupee moved in the 16 paise range to end at its day’s low of 60.69.
Call and G-Sec rates
The interbank call money rate, the rate at which banks borrow short term funds from one another, ended slightly weaker at 6.90 per cent from the previous close of 7.00 per cent on Monday.
The yield on 10-year benchmark 8.40 per cent government security, maturing in 2024, softened to 8.52 per cent from 8.54 per cent. The price of the security rose to Rs 99.20 from Monday’s close of Rs 99.00.