Rupee down 11 paise at 46.15/16 against dollar

The rupee today declined by 11 paise to end at 46.15/16 against the US currency due to sustained dollar demand from importers amid distinctly weak equities.

Heavy capital outflows too kept the rupee under pressure while a weak dollar overseas limited its fall.
At the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market, the domestic unit opened a tad lower at 46.05/06 a dollar from the overnight close of 46.04/05. It concluded the day at 46.15/16.
In three straight sessions of losses, the rupee plunged by 52 paise or 1.13%.
Dealers said that continued dollar demand from importers, mainly oil refiners, to meet their month-end needs weighed heavy on the rupee sentiment.
"Equity markets ended weak today which depreciated the rupee by almost a quarter per cent. Dollar demand from oil importers also helped dollar to gain against rupee," Alpari Financial Services CEO Pramit Brahmbhatt said.
"The global equity markets are continuously breaking their key supports and are expected to weaken further," India Forex Advisors CEO Abhishek Goenka said.
The dollar index was trading lower by 0.25% and the New York crude oil was quoting below USD 85 a barrel in European market today.
Meanwhile, the Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex today tumbled by over 297 points or 1.84%.
FIIs extracted USD 323.88 million yesterday, taking a total withdrawal of nearly USD 2.2 billion in the current month till August 25.
The rupee premium for the forward dollar recovered on fresh paying pressure from banks and corporates.
The benchmark six-month forward dollar premium payable in January concluded higher at 67-70 paise from Thursday's close of 61-1/2-64-1/2 paise. Far-forward contracts maturing in July also rose to 129-132 paise from 123-126 paise yesterday.
The RBI fixed the reference rate for the dollar at Rs 46.0528 and the euro at Rs 66.4788.
The rupee improved further against the pound sterling to end at Rs 75.22/24 from overnight close of Rs 75.34/36 while moved down slightly to Rs 66.50/52 per euro from 66.45/47 previously. It, however, fell back against the Japanese yen to Rs 60.02/04 per 100 yen from last close of Rs 59.66/68.