The Indian rupee slid for a third straight day on Wednesday to record its lowest close in more than three weeks on persistent central bank intervention and a surge in the dollar overseas.
Importers snapped up dollars to cover their exposures for up to a month, expecting the rupee's weak spell to last a while.
The rupee closed at 44.0600/0700 per dollar, against the previous 43.9400/9600. Wednesday's close was the lowest since March 29, when the rupee closed at 44.0700/0800. It swung from a high of 43.9850 to a low of 44.0850 in tentative trade.
"The Reserve Bank of India continued to intervene today," said a trader at a private bank.
In the forward market, however, the dollar continued to tumble. The six-month dollar traded at an annualised discount of 0.64 percent to the spot value, double the discount of 0.32 percent on Tuesday.