Mumbai: The Indian rupee Tuesday weakened for the fourth straight session and ended at a one-month low of 61.74 against the US dollar.
In line with lacklustre trade in local equities, the rupee closed one paisa down against the greenback on alternate bouts of buying and selling, despite a sharp fall in dollar overseas. In four straight days, the rupee has depreciated by 23 paise or 0.37 percent.
At the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market, the local unit resumed lower at 61.79 a dollar from previous close of 61.73. It declined further to a low of 61.8750 on initial dollar demand from importers.
Later, it met with strong resistance and recovered to a high of 61.69 before settling at 61.74, showing a fall of one paisa or 0.02 percent. This was its weakest close since 61.83 on October 16, 2014.
"The rupee remained range bound as initially private oil firms had bought dollars that weakened the rupee to its lowest level in a little over a month," said Suresh Nair, Director, Admisi Forex India.
The Indian benchmark S&P BSE Sensex today eased by 14.59 points, or 0.05 percent after touching its all-time intra-day peak. FPIs/FIIs bought shares worth USD 122.68 million yesterday, as per Sebi data.
The dollar index, a gauge of six major global rivals, was down by 0.47 percent.
Pramit Brahmbhatt, CEO, Veracity Group, said: "Rupee continues to trade in a thin range. The trading range for the spot rupee is expected to be within 61.20 to 62.00."
In the forward market, premia remained weak on consistent receipts from exporters.
The benchmark six-month premium payable in April dropped to 208.5-210.5 paise from previous close of 213-215 paise.
Forward contracts maturing in October, 2015 also dipped to 426.5-428.5 paise from 437.5-439.5 paise.
The Reserve Bank of India fixed the reference rate for dollar at 61.8080 and for the Euro at 77.0931.
The rupee fell back against the pound to 96.71 from 96.56 previously while declined further to 77.28 per euro from 77.14. It, however, improved further to 52.93 per 100 Japanese yen from 53.08.
