The rupee surrendered all its early gains and closed 19 paise lower at 69.65 against the US dollar Monday amid strengthening of the greenback against Asian currencies and rising crude oil prices.
At the interbank foreign exchange (forex), the domestic currency opened at 69.40 a dollar and gained further strength to touch a high of 69.38 during the day.
The domestic currency, however, could not hold on to the gains and fell to 69.68. The rupee finally settled at 69.65 a dollar, down 19 paise over its previous close.
The Indian unit had settled at 69.46 against the US dollar Friday.
“Indian rupee was unable to hold the morning gains amid higher crude oil prices and stronger dollar against Asian currencies,” said V K Sharma, Head-PCG & Capital Market Strategy, HDFC securities.
The dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, rose 0.34 per cent to 96.87.