Rupee opens 2 paise lower against dollar

MUMBAI: The rupee opened 2 paise lower at Rs 45.64 per US dollar in early trade on the Interbank Foreign Exchange today amid demand for the American currency from importers and appreciation of the greenback against other currency rivals overseas.

The rupee had strengthened by 13 paise to Rs 45.62/63 per dollar in the previous session.

Forex dealers said gains registered by the dollar against euro overseas, in addition to demand from importers, mainly weighed on the rupee sentiment.

However, a higher opening in the stock market and closure of Asian markets to mark the Lunar New Year restricted the rupee losses, they said.

Meanwhile, the Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex rose by 57.32 points, or 0.31 per cent, to 18,147.94 in opening trade today.

TOI

Sensex down 800 pts at closing

Mumbai: After tanking over 1,000 points in minutes after opening, the benchmark Sensex staged a moderate recovery but still closed lower by more than 800 points at 10,527.80, the lowest in more than two years, on sell-off spree which mirrored the panic among investors worldwide.
Even as the 30-share Sensex was recovering by mid- session on encouraging comments from Finance Minister P Chidambaram and reports of inflation declining against expectations, an abysmal performance in industrial growth pulled down the barometer again.
A moderate recovery in the key-index was backed by the RBI decision to cut CRR by one percent in addition to 50 basis points earlier this week.

The BSE barometer finally settled the day at 10,527.80, showing a loss of 800.51 points.

The key index had lost a whopping 1088points, or nearly 10 per cent, at the outset.

All the 13 sectoral indices, led by realty, capital goods and consumer durables, ended in deep red with falls of up to 11.30 per cent.

Similarly, the wide-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty in volatile movements, closed lower by 233.70, or 6.65 per cent, at 3,279.95, after touching the day's low of 3,198 points.

Marketmen said the steep fall in the beginning was triggered by weak global cues.

The selling pressure was further strengthened by weakening rupee which plummeted to its all-time low of 49.30 against a US dollar.

Later, particularly weak IIP data negated whatever positive sentiment emerged on a decline in inflation.

Realty segment stocks suffered the most, placing the sectoral index down by 11.30 per cent at 2523.07 followed by consumer durable index by 10.11 per cent at 2139.50.
Source: www.mid-day.com