Rupee snaps 3-day rally, down 49 paise

The rupee on Tuesday fell sharply downwards by 49 paise to close at 55.67 against the US currency, snapping straight three-session of gaining string, on heavy month-end dollar demand from importers and some banks late weakness in local equities also some what weighed on the sentiment.

Better dollar overseas and fresh capital inflows also put pressure on the rupee.

At the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market, the domestic unit opened weak at 55.36 and gradually moved downwards to the day's low of 55.88 before recovering some ground to settle at 55.67.

The Indian benchmark Sensex, which was up by over 127 points at mid-sessions, closed higher by nearly 22 points or 0.13 per cent on fag-end selling.

The dollar index, indicator of six major rivals, was up by 0.07 per cent and New York crude oil was trading above $91 a barrel in European market on Tuesday.