Rupee ends lower by 19 paise against dollar

Forex dealers said that the dollar fell against the yen in Sydney market after Japan`s Prime Minister Naoto Kan warned of a radiation leak following the third explosion at a reactor in the nuclear plant at Fukushima of Japan following an earthquake and tsunami.

Meanwhile, global crude oil was trading below USD 99 a barrel in London today.

The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex ended lower by 272 points due to all-round selling pressure as Japanese shares led a sharp slide in Asian stocks after Japanese Prime Minister cautioned that the radiation levels are now high enough to endanger humans.

At the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market, the local currency opened lower at 45.23/24 per dollar as against the yesterday`s closing level of 45.06/07 per dollar and declined further to 45.38 per dollar before ending at 45.25/26 per dollar.

It moved in a range of 45.20 and 45.38 per dollar during the day.

Alpari India CEO Pramit Brahmbhatt said USD/INR had a gap up opening by 16 paise at 45.22. The pair traded bullishly throughout the day, it made a high of 45.37 & low of 45.20.

Equity markets traded weak during the day and closed down by nearly 1.5 per cent.

The rupee premium for the forward dollar closed slightly lower on fresh receivings by exporters. The benchmark 6-month forward dollar premium payable in August finished lower at 139-140 paise from 140-142 paise previously.

Far-forward contracts maturing in February also ended down at 269-271 paise from 270-1/2-272-1/2 paise yesterday.

The Reserve Bank of India has fixed the reference rate for the dollar at Rs 45.27 and the euro at Rs 63.08.

The rupee recovered to Rs 72.42/44 against the pound sterling from Monday`s close of Rs 72.56/58 and also moved up against the euro to Rs 62.83/85 from Rs 62.95/97 previously.

It, however, fell back against the yen to Rs 55.66/68 per 100 yen from its last close of Rs 55.00/02.