Inching closer to the 56-level, the rupee on Wednesday weakened by five paise to hit a fresh six-month low of 55.46 on continued dollar demand from importers ahead of US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's congressional testimony.
The local currency commenced better at 55.35 a dollar from last close of 55.41 on the Interbank Foreign Exchange market and improved further to a high of 55.33.
Wilting under heavy dollar demand, it fell back steeply to 55.64 before closing at 55.46, a fall of five paise, or 0.09 per cent. This is rupee's lowest closing since 55.45 on November 27, 2012.
"A mix of strong US dollar overseas, high import demand, which is seasonal and participant positioning, which was overly short on US Dollar might have been the reason for sharp upside move in the US Dollar against the rupee," said Anindya Banerjee, currency analyst at Kotak Securities.
He added that the rupee is likely to move in the range of 55-55.80 in near-term.
The dollar index was up by 0.13 per cent against a basket of six major global rivals.
Meanwhile, the BSE benchmark Sensex on Wednesday declined by over 49 points to close at a one-week low of 20,062.24.
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