The Indian rupee recovered from its lowest level in over a week, but still ended weaker on Tuesday, as global investors trimmed positions in the high-yielding rupee on mounting concerns about risky assets.
The rupee ended at 40.9025/9125 per dollar, easing from Monday's 40.875/885, but climbing off the intraday low of 41.04. "As soon as the rupee tested 41 we saw quite a few corporates selling dollars," said a dealer with a foreign bank.
Traders said a large software services company and a pharmaceutical company were seen selling the US currency near 41 per dollar, capping the local unit's losses.
The rupee came under pressure, tracking declines in other high-yielding Asian units like the Indonesian rupiah, as overseas investors pared holdings in relatively risky assets after US stocks slipped.
The rupee is widely considered a beneficiary of the so-called carry trade, where investors borrow low-yielding currencies to fund investments in high-yielding assets.