Rupee ends stable at 44.72/73 against dollar

MUMBAI: In a lackadaisical trade at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market today, the rupee closed stable at 44.72/73 against the US currency on alternate bouts of buying and selling.

Initially, there was some sale of dollars by exporters but that was offset by dollar buying by importers, dealers said.

The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex fell for the third straight session today, down 116 points at 18,269, on low factory output and weak overseas markets amid upsurge in global crude oil prices.

The dollar index was up by 0.25 per cent against a basket of currencies while New York crude oil was trading below USD 101 a barrel in the European market today.

Meanwhile, the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), based on the new series (with 2004-05 base year), declined to 6.3 per cent in April from 13.1 per cent in the same period last fiscal.

Alpari Forex ( India) CEO Pramit Brahmbhatt said: "Today EURO weakened against the greenback after the ECB's Chief Trichet signalled yesterday that the interest rates could be raised in July. Taking cues from this, EURINR pair traded bearishly and was down by 1 per cent. Rupee also got weakened against the dollar as IIP data was well below the market expectations."

"Expect Rupee to touch 45 levels in coming days and USDINR trading range would be 44.55 to 44.05," he added.