Rupee falls 35 paise to 61.79/$ as stocks decline

The rupee today retreated from a seven-week high, dropping 35 paise to close at 61.79 against the dollar, after stocks weakened on concerns about the continuing US government shutdown.

Fresh dollar demand from importers also dragged the rupee lower, ending three sessions of gains for the currency. At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened lower at 61.50, compared with Friday's close of 61.44 and declined to a low of 61.96 on weakness in stocks.

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The local currency recovered some ground in line with local equities and closed at 61.79, a fall of 35 paise or 0.57 percent. In the previous three sessions, the rupee had gained 116 paise or 1.85 percent.

"The rupee was seen erasing its earlier sharp gains against the US dollar and showed slight weakness. The fall was attributed to the negative stock markets and a slight recovery in the US dollar index," said Abhishek Goenka, CEO of IndiaForex Advisors.

The 30-share S&P BSE Sensex, which fell as much as 268 points, recovered to close 20.85 points lower. There was concern among investors about the US shutdown after lawmakers in Washington remained deadlocked over extending the nation's debt limit to avoid default before the October 17 deadline.

Foreign institutional investors bought a net Rs 541.36 crore of shares on Friday, as per provisional data with stock exchanges.