Rupee Tumbles To Five-Week Low

The Indian rupee tumbled by another 12 paise to nearly five-week low of 40.17/18 against the American currency on April 24 as oil companies stepped up dollar purchases after oil prices hit a new record high April 24.Forex dealers said the local currency buckled under pressure after a promising start at 40.00/01 a dollar as oil refiners frantically covered dollars to meet their month-end import bills amid inadequate supplies. At the Interbank Foreign Exchange (forex) market, the rupee moved in a wide range of 40.00 and 40.1850 during the day as all factors worked against the Indian unit. Earlier in the month, the central bank preferred to hold rupee to around 39.90 level against dollar before raising the Cash Reserve Ratio by 50 basis points to 8.0 per cent in a bid to contain rising inflation rate.