Indian Rupee Falls Again
MUMBAI - The Indian rupee fell against the U.S. dollar for the eighth consecutive session Wednesday as local stocks slipped deep into the red and fresh concerns emerged over a worsening sovereign-debt crisis in Europe.</br></br>The dollar was at 52.36 rupees late Wednesday, up from 52.30 rupees Tuesday. The dollar slipped to an intraday low of 51.80 rupees in early trade on heavy sales by a large oil firm and an engineering company on expectations that the central bank may announce measures to ease dollar liquidity in the system. Dealers estimated the companies likely sold about $400 million in the market.</br></br>The rupee, however, soon reversed its gains, as Indian shares slumped to their lowest level in more than two years. The Bombay Stock Exchange's Sensitive Index fell 2.3% to 15699.97.</br></br>"The dollar index is in a bullish mode despite weak U.S. fundamentals. This is mainly on a buildup of economic, monetary and fiscal pressures on the euro zone with no signs of a rollout of concrete rescue packages," said Moses Harding, head of economic and market research at IndusInd Bank.</br></br>The dollar may move in a 51.00 rupee-54.00 rupee range in the near term, he said.