Extending losses for the seventh straight session, the rupee tumbled sharply by 37 paise to close at nearly 16-month low of 47.59/60 against the U.S. currency on persistent dollar demand from importers and banks. Dealers said heavy dollar demand from importers and some banks on expectations of further rise in the American unit amid late weakness in local stocks weighed on the rupee.
Looking at the aberrant behaviour of the stock markets globally, investors turned back to dollar as a safe haven, dealers said.
Increased capital outflows too affected the rupee value, they added.
In fairly active trade at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market, the domestic unit opened higher at 47.11/12 a dollar from last close of 47.22/23 and improved further on initial smart recovery in equities.
But, it fell back on sustained dollar demand and late weakness in stocks to a low of 47.65 before concluding at 47.59/60, showing a fall of 0.78 per cent.
Last time, it had settled at 47.70/71 on May 25, 2010.
“The rupee traded weak today, mainly taking cues from global markets where dollar traded strong against the major currencies,” Alpari Financial Services (India) CEO Pramit Brahmbhatt said.
“Looking at the current uncertain global scenario one can expect Rupee to trade near 47.75 levels and the trading range for the USD/INR will be 47.25 to 47.75 tomorrow,” he added.



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