India’s rupee hit a ten-week- low against the dollar yesterday but clawed back ground amid reports that the central bank had intervened in the foreign exchange market to boost the currency, traders said.

The central Reserve Bank of India (RBI) was believed to have stepped in to the market after the rupee hit an intraday low of 51.48 against the dollar, a level last seen on January 16 this year.

The rupee has been weighed down by weak local stock markets, foreign fund outflows and continuing
pressure from oil importers, who have to exchange rupees for dollars.

On Monday, the country’s benchmark 30-share Sensex index ended at a two-month-low of 17,052.78 points.
“The RBI is suspected to have intervened, selling dollars at around 51.37 levels,” a dealer told AFP, declining to be named. 

The Daily Independent/Bangladesh/ 28th March 2012