In line with late fall in local stocks, the rupee also surrendered all of its early gains and even closed weak by 16 paise at nearly 6-week low of 55.23 against the Greenback, extending losses for the third straight session.
Sustained dollar from importers and some banks amid firm dollar overseas also weighed on the rupee while continued foreign institutional investor (FII) inflows in equities failed to give support to the rupee.
At the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market, the domestic unit commenced better at 55.00 as against last Friday's close of 55.07 but recovered immediately to a high of 54.90 on initial rise in local stocks.
However, it could not able to maintain its gain and fell back to a low of 55.31 before recovering some ground to end at 55.23, level not seen since November 27, 2012 when it had closed at 55.45, still showing a fall of 16 paise or 0.29 pct.
Dealers attributed late drop in the rupee value to fag end weakness in domestic equities amid good dollar buying by importers and some banks.
The Indian benchmark sensex today washed out all of its early gains and dipped by 92.66 points or 0.47 pct, breaking four-day gaining string while Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) infused USD 228.18 mln on January 4, as per Sebi data.
The dollar index, a gauge of six major global rivals, was up by 0.10 pct. Pramit Brahmbhatt, CEO, Alpari Financial Services (India) said,'The INR extended its last weekend's weakness during the first session of the week surpassing the previously registered lows tracking weak domestic equity markets and rising dollar index.
4-DAY BSE RALLY ENDS ON PROFIT BOOKING, SENSEX LOSES 93 PTS
Snapping the four-day rally, the BSE benchmark Sensex on Monday fell by 93 points from two-year high levels on emergence of profit-booking in stocks including, L&T, HDFC Bank, ITC and HUL, amid weak global trends.
Selling that was seen since late morning picked up pace in the last half hour of trading with capital goods, realty, FMCG and consumer goods stocks suffering the most.
The Sensex closed 92.66 points down, or 0.47 per cent, to 19,691.42. The 30-share index had gained 358 points in the previous four trading sessions.
Fall in L&T, HDFC Bank, HDFC, ITC, RIL, HUL, Tata Motors, SBI and TCS shares largely contributed to the Sensex downslide. Rise in Infosys, Maruti Suzuki, ONGC, Tata Steel, Cipla and Sun Pharma helped cushion the fall to some extent.
Similarly, the wide-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty lost 27.75 points, or 0.46 per cent, to end at 5,988.40.
'After showing gains of more than 1.5 per cent last week, Nifty witnessed selling pressure in today's session due to profit-booking and cautious approach above 6000 level,' said Rakesh Goyal, Senior Vice President, Bonanza Portfolio Ltd.
Brokers said the market remained under pressure as cautious investors indulged in profit-booking activity in scrips that gained in the recent days. A weakening trend in the Asian region and lower opening in Europe led investors to reduce their positions before any technical correction, they added.
Market participants adopted a wait and watch strategy before the beginning of the earning season which is expected to start with Infosys coming out with third quarter numbers on 11 January, experts said.
Sustained dollar from importers and some banks amid firm dollar overseas also weighed on the rupee while continued foreign institutional investor (FII) inflows in equities failed to give support to the rupee.
At the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market, the domestic unit commenced better at 55.00 as against last Friday's close of 55.07 but recovered immediately to a high of 54.90 on initial rise in local stocks.
However, it could not able to maintain its gain and fell back to a low of 55.31 before recovering some ground to end at 55.23, level not seen since November 27, 2012 when it had closed at 55.45, still showing a fall of 16 paise or 0.29 pct.
Dealers attributed late drop in the rupee value to fag end weakness in domestic equities amid good dollar buying by importers and some banks.
The Indian benchmark sensex today washed out all of its early gains and dipped by 92.66 points or 0.47 pct, breaking four-day gaining string while Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) infused USD 228.18 mln on January 4, as per Sebi data.
The dollar index, a gauge of six major global rivals, was up by 0.10 pct. Pramit Brahmbhatt, CEO, Alpari Financial Services (India) said,'The INR extended its last weekend's weakness during the first session of the week surpassing the previously registered lows tracking weak domestic equity markets and rising dollar index.
4-DAY BSE RALLY ENDS ON PROFIT BOOKING, SENSEX LOSES 93 PTS
Snapping the four-day rally, the BSE benchmark Sensex on Monday fell by 93 points from two-year high levels on emergence of profit-booking in stocks including, L&T, HDFC Bank, ITC and HUL, amid weak global trends.
Selling that was seen since late morning picked up pace in the last half hour of trading with capital goods, realty, FMCG and consumer goods stocks suffering the most.
The Sensex closed 92.66 points down, or 0.47 per cent, to 19,691.42. The 30-share index had gained 358 points in the previous four trading sessions.
Fall in L&T, HDFC Bank, HDFC, ITC, RIL, HUL, Tata Motors, SBI and TCS shares largely contributed to the Sensex downslide. Rise in Infosys, Maruti Suzuki, ONGC, Tata Steel, Cipla and Sun Pharma helped cushion the fall to some extent.
Similarly, the wide-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty lost 27.75 points, or 0.46 per cent, to end at 5,988.40.
'After showing gains of more than 1.5 per cent last week, Nifty witnessed selling pressure in today's session due to profit-booking and cautious approach above 6000 level,' said Rakesh Goyal, Senior Vice President, Bonanza Portfolio Ltd.
Brokers said the market remained under pressure as cautious investors indulged in profit-booking activity in scrips that gained in the recent days. A weakening trend in the Asian region and lower opening in Europe led investors to reduce their positions before any technical correction, they added.
Market participants adopted a wait and watch strategy before the beginning of the earning season which is expected to start with Infosys coming out with third quarter numbers on 11 January, experts said.