After registering to a life-time intra-day low of 61.21 against the greenback on weak local equities amid sustained dollar demand from importers, the Indian rupee recovered marginally on suspected intervention by the apex bank, still closing down by 39 paise at 60.61, extending losses for the second straight session.
The rupee commenced sharply weak at 60.95 a dollar from last weekend's close of 60.22 and dipped further to historic low of 61.21 on sluggish local equities amid sustained dollar demand from importers, mainly oil refiners, surpassing its previous all-time low of 60.76 logged on June 26, 2013.
Later, it bounced back on suspected intrusion of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) through public sector banks to a high of 60.58 before settling at 60.61, yet showing a fall of 39 paise or 0.65 pct.
The Indian benchmark S&P BSE Sensex on Monday dropped 171.05 points.
The dollar index, which was trading at nearly 3-year high, was down by 0.09 pct against a basket of six major currencies.
Pramit Brahmbhatt, CEO, Alpari Financial Services (India) said,"Rupee again started the week on a weak note by depreciating more than half percent on the first day itself taking cues from weak local equities which closed down by almost one per cent. Last week Rupee has weakened for the 9th consecutive week and has depreciated above 13.50 pct during these nine weeks. Expect spot Rupee to trade over 62.00 levels in coming days."
PHOTO: Associated Press 
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