Rupee weakens further

The rupee extended losses on Wednesday in a volatile trade weighed by high dollar demand from importers, dealers said.

In the interbank market, the rupee closed at 115.14 against the dollar, weaker than its record low Tuesday’s closing of 115.

Currency dealers said importers are looking to buy dollars to meet import needs, but the supply of the greenback remained limited.

“The foreign exchange demand and supply gap widened further due to continued payments pressure,” a dealer said.

“Resultantly, the currency extended earlier falls during the trade.” In the open market, the rupee was quoted at 114/115 against the dollar as opposed to 113.50/115.50 in the previous trading session.