Mumbai, Apr 16: The rupee today fell by 37 paise to close at nearly three-month low of 51.67/68 against the US currency following heavy dollar demand from importers and some banks amid strong dollar overseas.
Fresh dollar demand from importers and some banks in view of strong dollar in international market mainly affected the rupee value, a dealer said.
The marginal decrease in headline inflation found mark in investors sentiment ahead of RBI's annual policy tomorrow.
The BSE benchmark Sensex ended higher by 56.44 points, or 0.33 per cent today.
At the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market, the domestic unit opened lower at 51.61/62 a dollar from the last close 51.30/31. The rupee dropped further to 51.75 per dollar before ending at 51.67/68 per dollar.
In New York, the dollar extended gains against major currencies as investors reacted to weak data on US consumer sentiment.
The rupee premium for the forward dollar ended lower on sustained receivings by exporters.
The benchmark six-month forward dollar premium payable in September finished sharply lower at 158-160 paise from last close of 163-165 paise and far-forward contracts maturing in March also ended down at 288-290 paise from 297-299 paise previously.
The RBI fixed the reference rate for the US dollar at 51.6590 and for euro at 67.1825.
The rupee softened to end at 81.83/85 against the pound sterling from last weekend's level of 81.82/84 while remained firm against the euro to 67.31/33 from 67.54/56 previously.
It, however, fell back against the Japanese yen to 63.95/97 per 100 yen from last close of 63.35/37.
