The rupee eased to a near-two-week closing low on Tuesday as Muslims heading on the Haj pilgrimage bought dollars and importers purchased the US currency as it traded firm overseas.
The partially convertible rupee ended at 43.90/91 per dollar, 0.16 percent weaker than Monday's 43.835/84 and the lowest close since September 1.
"There was good demand from corporates and also a one-off remittance on Haj, which pushed the rupee lower. But the stock market did well and foreign fund inflows continued to pour in, which helped sentiment," said a dealer at a foreign bank. Inflows of nearly $7.9 billion into Indian stocks this year have helped the rupee.
But dealers were wary with the one-month offshore forward rupee quoting nearly 0.3 percent weaker against the dollar than the local currency in the onshore market.
Non-deliverable forwards (NDFs) are offshore financial instruments used by foreign investors and companies to bet on the value of the local unit.
The shortfall between US exports and imports was $57.9 billion in July, compared with a revised $59.5 billion in June and economists' forecasts for a $59.8 billion gap.
The euro quickly slipped to $1.2245 from around $1.2285 immediately before the data were released, a new two-week low, while the dollar edged up to 111.00 yen, a new two-week high, from around 110.85 yen.
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