New Delhi: This week, FIIs turned net buyers and infused a net amount of USD 445.08 million as per Sebi's record. In the meantime, after touching a record high, the country's forex reserves declined by USD 1.679 billion to USD 369.6 billion in the week to September 16.
In the forward market, premium for dollars remained under immense pressure due to sustained receipts by exporters.
The benchmark six-month forward dollar premium payable in February 2017 slumped to 160-162 paise from 174-176 paise and far-forward contracts maturing in August also fell sharply to 342-344 paise as compared to 362-364 paise last weekend.
The RBI fixed the reference rate for the USD at Rs 66.6519 and euro at Rs 74.6701 as against last Friday's level of Rs 66.8804 and Rs 75.1535, respectively.
In cross-currency trades, the rupee rallied against the pound sterling for the second straight week to end at 86.39 from 88.20 and rose against the euro to finish at 74.75 from 75.15.
The domestic unit, however, continued slide against the Japanese currency and settled at 66.13 as against 65.73 per 100 yen earlier.
On the global front, it has been a challenging week for the U.S. dollar as the greenback lost value against most of the major currencies after the Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged even as investors kept positions tight ahead of Monday's U.S. presidential debate.
The US dollar index, which measures the greenback's strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major Currencies down at 95.41 - its largest weekly drop in a month.
Meanwhile, the Bank of Japan made kept interest rates on hold at minus 0.1 per cent in an overhaul of its massive stimulus programme.
Crude prices failed hold its early strong gains and tumbled about 4 percent on Friday on signs Saudi Arabia and arch rival Iran were making little progress in achieving preliminary agreement ahead of talks by major crude exporters next week aimed at freezing production.
