Rupee depreciates by end of the trade; gains evaporate

Indian rupee after gathering traction in early deals ended weak on Tuesday as positive sentiment prevailing on account of weakness of American greenback overseas was counterbalanced by the negative local equities. Indian currency had in early deals appreciated amidst hopes that European policy makers will outline details of how they will leverage a bailout fund so as to avert contagion in sovereign debt markets. However, lingering concerns ahead of release of the GDP data and euro-area finance ministers meet to discuss insuring a portion of bonds issued by debt-stricken countries, mainly washed out all the gains of the local unit. Meanwhile, the euro rose sharply against the dollar on Tuesday, boosted by relief among investors that Italy managed to sell government bonds to the market even though it was forced to pay record high auction yields.

Finally the rupee ended at 52.02, weaker by 0.07 paise from its previous close of 51.95 on Monday. It has touched a high and low of 52.13 and 51.88 respectively. The Reserve Bank of India's reference rate for the dollar stood at Rs 51.93 and for Euro it stood at 69.36 on November 29, 2011. While, the RBI's reference rate for the Yen stood at 66.55 and the reference rate for the Great Britain Pound (GBP) stood at 80.6226. The reference rates are based on 12 noon rates of a few select banks in Mumbai.