Rupee falls more, higher equities contain damage
Mumbai: The cup of woes for the rupee seems to be brimming over as it weakened 13 paise more to 64.69 against the dollar in early session today as US rate hike fears come back to haunt participants. Fed officials' highly hawkish comments mainly soured forex market sentiment. Dealers said dollar flexing muscles overseas and its increased demand from importers put the squeeze on the rupee. They said, however, a higher opening in the domestic stock market limited the rupee losses. Yesterday, the rupee had retreated after a three-session winning run and lost 28 paise to end at 64.56 against the dollar with simmering geopolitical tensions taking the centre-stage at the global level. Some caution ahead of key macro numbers -- industrial production (IIP) for February and consumer inflation for March to be released on Wednesday -- also added to the pressure. Meanwhile, the benchmark BSE Sensex recovered 55.50 points, or 0.18 per cent, to 29,631.24 in the beginning. — PTI
