Mumbai: The rupee ended marginally lower against the US dollar for the second straight week in a relatively tepid trading due to stray demand for the greenback amid looming concerns about a Fed rate hike.
After rebounding from a three-week low, the home currency settled with a mere three paise loss at 66.71 during the week. Much of the focus in the forex markets was on the outlook for US monetary policy as the minutes of the Federal Reserve's September policy meeting showed the Federal Reserve is edging ever closer to carry out a rate hike this year.
A massive sell-off in financial and currency markets worldwide largely weighed on trade. Resurgent dollar overseas alongside fresh capital outflows also added to the already heightened woes for rupee, a forex dealer commented.
The domestic unit started the week on a firm footing at 66.58 as against last Friday's closing value of 66.68 at the Inter-bank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market and gained further ground to hit a high of 66.53 on initial dollar selling by
banks and corporates.
However, reacting vehemently to the Fed minutes outcome, the local unit plunged sharply to retrace its three-week low of 66.96 on Thursday before recouping most of its losses towards the tail-end trade to supported by easing inflationary pressure.
It finally settled at 66.71, showing a small loss of three paise, or 0.04 per cent.
The Forex market remained closed on Tuesday and Wednesday on account of Dussehra and Muharram, respectively.
