Rupee declines 28 paise to 72.90 against dollar

Mumbai Extending losses for the second straight session, the rupee on Tuesday fell by another 28 paise to end at 72.90 against the US currency due to dollar buying by banks and higher crude oil prices. The rupee opened on a marginally positive note at 72.57 per dollar as against its previous close of 72.62 at the interbank foreign exchange market. It hovered in the range of 72.54 to 72.94 per dollar during the day before ending at 72.90.

The domestic currency has lost 45 paise in the two trading sessions to Tuesday. Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, rose 0.01 per cent to 89.83. "Rupee depreciated for the second day in a row and underperformed among Asian currencies amid foreign banks' dollar buying and higher crude oil prices raising concerns for higher import bills," said Dilip Parmar, Research Analyst, HDFC Securities.

India's petroleum product imports accounts for 80 per cent of its need. Going ahead, RBI policy decision will be on investor radars this weekend after below expectation manufacturing PMI numbers. "However, market don't expect any change in rate from central bank but look for the inflation outlooks as they given more importance to growth last meets," Parmar said.