The rupee on Friday shed 19 paise against the dollar at 63.30 erasing it’s initial gains on account of strong demand for the US currency from oil companies amid flows in the domestic equity market.

The rupee had plunged to 13-month low of 63.53 earlier this week amid chaos in global financial markets caused by volatility in Russian currency rouble.

Rupee weakness was also aided by strong gains by the American currency after US Fed said it would start the process of a rate hike.

Suresh Nair, Director Admisi Forex said, “Rupee ended the session weak supported by demand from importers at lower levels. The Rupee also weakened after the Bank of Japan meeting on Friday revealed that the BoJ maintained the level of its stimulus program of ¥80 trillion. This weakened the Yen against the Dollar and in turn hurt domestic sentiments.”

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in Parliament, however, said there was “no serious crisis” for the domestic currency as it was stabilising after a few days of “volatility”.

After opening stronger at 63.05, in intra-day trade, the domestic unit touched a high of 62.99 and a low of 63.34.

Call Rates, G-sec yields harden

The overnight call money rates, the interest rates at which banks borrow from each other to overcome liquidity mismatches, ended flat at 8.00 per cent.

The yields on the 10-year benchmark government security (8.40 per cent G-Sec, maturing in 2024) yield hardened to 7.96 per cent from 7.92 per cent close on Thursday. The prices fell sharply to Rs. 102.75 from Rs. 103.12.

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