Rupee hits key level of 57 vs dollar, nears record low

The rupee touched the key psychological level of 57 to the dollar on Thursday, approaching a record low hit nearly a year earlier as fears of an end to the U.S. Federal Reserve's monetary stimulus sent the dollar higher and hit local shares.

Recent U.S. economic data has been mixed, which has left investors caught between fears the Fed will reduce its stimulus and worries the U.S. economy is still weak.

The rupee is not far off the record low of 57.32 hit in late June last year, raising concerns about potential intervention from the Reserve Bank of India, although most analysts do not expect bold actions given the rupee weakness is tracking global factors.

Still, further falls are bound to revive concerns about funding India's current account deficit. The government on Wednesday increased import duty on gold, and the finance ministry is considering raising the cap on foreign investment in sovereign debt.

"The psychological level of 57 has been hit and thus it invites fears of some intervention. The market is a bit cautious at these levels," said Paresh Nayar, head of fixed income and foreign exchange trading at First Rand Bank.

The partially convertible rupee was trading at 56.85/86 per dollar at 0545 GMT, after earlier touching 57. The rupee closed at 56.7250/7350 on Wednesday.

Domestic shares fell on worries about the Fed stimulus programme, tracking Asian indexes that slipped to new 2013 lows. The benchmark BSE Sensex was down 0.4 percent.

Traders also cited heavy dollar demand from oil refiners, the largest buyers of the greenback in the domestic currency market.

Comments from a senior government official hurt the rupee as well. Propping up the rupee "artificially" is not the right thing to do, said Montek Singh Ahluwalia, the deputy chairman of the country's Planning Commision.

The rupee is expected to hold in a 56.70-57.10 range during the session, traders said.

Investors are expected to focus on inflation, trade, and industrial output data, all of which are expected ahead of the Reserve Bank of India's policy review on June 17.

Expectations the central bank would cut interest rates a fourth time this year have been recently dashed after Governor Duvvuri Subbarao sounded concern on retail inflation and the current account deficit.

In the offshore non-deliverable forwards, the one-month contract was at 57.20, while the three-month was at 57.78. (Reuters)