The Indian rupee fell to a one-week low on Thursday, dragged down by surging oil prices that pushed up dollar demand from oil importers as well as battered stocks, but a weak dollar overseas prevented a steeper fall. The partially convertible rupee ended at 45.48/50 per dollar, its weakest since February 15, after trading in a range of 45.25-45.50 intra-day.
It had closed at 45.12/13 on Wednesday. Traders see the rupee trading in a range of 45.35-45.55 on Friday. The one-month onshore forward premiums were quoted at 26.00 points, against Wednesday's 23.00, and the one-month offshore non-deliverable forward contracts were quoted at 45.80, weaker than the onshore spot rate.
In the currency futures market, the most traded near-month dollar-rupee contracts on the National Stock Exchange, the MCX-SX and the United Stock Exchange closed at 45.7425, 45.7500 and 45.7500, respectively, with the total traded volume at about $6.38 billion.