Re down 14 paise at about 2-week low of 44.86/87 against USD

MUMBAI: The rupee today depreciated by 14 paise to close at nearly a two-week low of 44.86/87 against the US currency following good dollar demand.

Dealers said that good dollar demand from importers and some banks mainly put pressure on the rupee.

Weakness in Asian currencies coupled with lack of any trigger from local stocks too weighed on the rupee sentiment, they added.

The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex today recovered its initial losses and closed nearly stable.

Meanwhile, New York crude oil was trading above USD 98 a barrel in European market today.

Alpari Forex (India) CEO Pramit Brahmbhatt said, "Globally dollar gained against the major currencies in Asian markets and local equities also traded weak which depreciated the Rupee against the dollar."

"USD/INR pair is expected to break the resistance of 45.00 in coming days and the trading range for the USD/INR will be 44.70 to 45.20 tomorrow," he added.

India Forex Advisors, CEO, Abhishek Goenka said, "The Indian rupee may further depreciate up to 45.00-45.10 levels".

"The Rupee tracked loosing stock market throughout the day and major Asian currencies closed weak for the day, Asian currencies and Euro traded in very narrow range as Australia and Europe markets were closed today," he commented.

At the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market, the local unit opened lower at 44.86/87 a dollar from previous close of 44.72/73 and was trapped in a very narrow range of 44.80 - 44.91 before concluding at 44.86/87.