Mumbai: The rupee surrendered initial gains and fell for the second day, losing eight paise to 62.09 against the dollar today as concerns about the US Federal Reserve tapering its stimulus programme outweighed the RBI's surprise status quo decision on interest rates.
Demand from importers for the dollar, which strengthened overseas, also put pressure on the rupee, while sustained capital inflows restricted the fall.
The rupee opened strong at 61.90 a dollar from the previous close of 62.01 at the interbank foreign exchange market. It climbed to 61.77 on a smart rebound in domestic stocks after the central bank unexpectedly kept all key policy rates unchanged in its Mid-Quarter Monetary Policy Review.
The RBI left the key repo rate at 7.75 per cent and the cash reserve ratio at 4 per cent. Analysts had expected a 25 bps increase in the repo rate after both retail and wholesale inflation remained high in November.
However, the rupee fell on dollar demand from importers to a low of 62.18 before ending at 62.09, a loss of eight paise or 0.13 per cent.
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