Reversing its six-day winning spree, the rupee on Tuesday dropped 27 paise to close at 67.35 on fresh demand for dollars from banks and importers amid fall in crude oil prices.
The unit resumed lower at 67.21 per dollar against last Friday’s closing level of 67.08 at the Interbank Foreign Exchange market and dropped further to 67.46 before ending at 67.35, showing a loss of 27 paise or 0.40 per cent.
The rupee had jumped by 164 paise or 2.39 per cent in previous six trading days.
It hovered in a range of 67.20-67.46 a dollar during the day.
The dollar index was up 0.06 per cent against a basket of six currencies in the late afternoon trade.
At overseas, the perennial safe-haven yen logged solid gains against the dollar and euro in early Asian trade today as risk appetites waned, and downbeat Chinese trade data fuelled concerns about the state of global demand.
The yen was stronger against rival currencies during Asian afternoon trade Today, hitting its one-week high against the dollar, with weakness in Tokyo stocks prompting investors to seek the perceived safety of the Japanese currency.
Pramit Brahmbhatt of Veracity Financial Services said the rupee opened above 67 on a negative note and continued to trade with negative bias throughout the day, thus by strengthening dollar. Our domestic equity market Nifty traded with choppiness and closed with no profit no loss. Thus to end the day, the rupee closed with a loss 27 paise at 67.35/$.
Trading range for the spot USD/INR pair is expected to be within 66.80 to 67.80 range.