Rupee declines by 11 paise against dollar

Mumbai, Mar 5 (PTI) The Indian rupee weakened by 11 paise
to 51.65/66 after opening strong against the US currency in
late morning trade in tune with fall in stock markets despite
the apex bank cutting key rates to spur economic growth.

In active trade at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex)
market, the local unit resumed better at 51.45/50 a dollar
from last close of 51.54/55. It moved in a range of 51.46 to
51.73 before being quoted at 51.65/66 in late morning deals.

Wednesday, the rupee snapped seven-session of losing
string, in which its was tumbled by a whopping 235 paise, or
4.74 per cent, and was recovered by 43 paise.

Indian apex bank, Reserve Bank late Wednesday evening cut
repo and the reverse repo rates by 50 basis points each with
immediate effect to support the faltering economy.

Forex dealers attributed initial moderate rally in the
rupee to firm opening in domestic equity markets.

However, the benchmark Sensex washed out early gains and
was quoting lower by over 24 points, or 0.29 per cent, at 1015
hrs, while Asian indices were quoting mixed Thursday morning,
weighing on the rupee.

Sustained capital outflows, which stood over USD 2
billion in 2009 so far, and firming dollar overseas against
its major rivals also put pressure on the rupee.

Meanwhile, the global oil prices were trading near USD
45 a barrel in Asian trade Thursday. PTI