Mumbai: The Indian rupee Friday shed a marginal three paise to settle a roller-coaster 2011 at 53.10/11 against the US dollar. Forex dealers said sluggish dollar overseas and sustained capital inflows restricted the rupee`s fall. At the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market, the local currency commenced lower at 53.15/16 and later moved in a range of 53.36 and 53.02, before settling at 53.10/11.
In the calender year 2011, the rupee has crashed by 18.79 per cent. Dealers attributed the sustained fall in the rupee`s value for major part of the year to the eurozone debt crisis. Investors preferred to buy dollar as a safe investment, especially at times of crisis. The BSE benchmark Sensex fell for the fourth straight session to 15,454.92 points, which mainly weighed on the rupee.
In addition, continued dollar demand from importers, mainly oil refiners, to meet their month-end requirements put pressure on the rupee. FIIs, which have been the net buyers worth USD 181.36 million in four continuous sessions since December 23, turned net sellers on December 29 and sold shares worth USD 115.61 million, as per SEBI data.