RUPEE @ 64.10-FELL BY 110 PAISE

The rupee today tumbled 110 paise to once again close below the 64 mark against the dollar, giving up a major part of Friday's gains amid heavy month-end dollar demand from importers and capital outflows. A strengthening dollar overseas and late weakness in local stocks also put pressure on the rupee, a forex dealer said. Global ratings agency Fitch today said India's fiscal numbers "look weak" and warned of a downgrade if the country is unable to meet the fiscal deficit target. At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened lower at 63.65 a dollar from the previous close of 63.20 and dipped further to the day's low of 64.75. The local currency recovered some ground after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) was said to have stepped in through state-run banks, helping the rupee to end at 64.30, a fall of 110 paise or 1.74 per cent. "The RBI, which was there in the market on Friday, was not seen today, at least till 4.30 pm today. After that, there was some hint of intervention by the RBI. Month-end dollar demand from oil importers kept rupee under pressure," said Navin Raghuvanshi, VP for treasury at Development Credit Bank. 

STOCK MARKET UNDER PRESSURE
 The benchmark S&P BSE Sensex today rose 39 points, settling in positive terrain for the third straight session, after erasing most of its early gains as the rupee once again weakened past the 64-mark against the dollar. Brokers said trading sentiment was initially firm after the Finance Ministry indicated that steps to attract capital flows to fund the current account deficit can be expected within a week. The announcement followed Finance Minister P Chidambaram's meetings with overseas investors and top bankers in Mumbai on Saturday.
The 30-share barometer opened higher and climbed to 18,728.19, a rise or 208.75 points. Later, selling in banking, refinery and PSU stocks pulled it down to settle at 18,558.13, a gain of 38.69 points or 0.21 per cent. The closing level was the highest since August 16, when it was at 18,598.18. The wider CNX Nifty on the National Stock Exchange edged up 4.75 points, or 0.09 per cent, to 5,476.50. The SX40 index on the MCX-SX closed 60.45 points up at 11,021.18. The fall of the rupee below the 64-mark to near 64.50 per dollar also weighed on sentiment in the stock market. "Some short covering along with cautious buying at lower levels aided market recovery," said Nidhi Saraswat, senior research analyst at Bonanza Portfolio Ltd. "However, market remains wary about the present situation of Indian rupee as well as economic condition of the country." Power, capital goods, IT and pharma shares attracted buying interest. Heavy electrical equipment major BHEL was the top gainer in the Sensex pack for the second straight day and closed up 6.63 per cent, adding to Friday's 8.1 per cent gain.