Rupee dips by 29 paise to 5-week low of 49.12/14 a dollar

MUMBAI: The rupee today crossed the crucial 49 level and ended at a five-week low of 49.12/14 against the greenback, cheaper by another 29 paise on growing fears of capital outflow amid a continued slide in local stocks.

The domestic currency has lost 84 paise in two days after a smart recovery to 49.28/29 a dollar on January 9, due to dollar coverings by importers as well as banks after the mega accounting scam disclosed by Satyam Computer, the country's fourth-largest software exporter.

Dealers at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (forex) market said foreign banks heavily covered dollar positions in late afternoon trade as the dollar remained stronger against the major world currencies.

They said oil refiners also bought a good amount of dollars after the global oil prices fell to around USD 37 a barrel in Asian trade today.

A fresh slide in equity markets despite IT bellwether Infosys Technologies' announcement of better-than-expected Q3 earnings also weighed on rupee sentiment.

Analysts said the rupee remained under pressure mainly because of increased fears of capital outflows with foreign funds pulling out a sizeable chunk of money from equity on January 12.

The Indian benchmark Sensex today closed lower by 39 points or 0.42 per cent after a late recovery from its intra-day low of 8,992.92.