The Indian rupee hovered near 13-month lows on Wednesday as concerns of a widening trade deficit intensified after world oil prices climbed to a record above $130 a barrel. India imports about 70 percent of its oil and refiners are the biggest buyers of dollars.
The partially convertible rupee ended at 42.83/84 per dollar, off an intraday low of 42.90, and 0.45 percent weaker than Tuesday's close of 42.635/640. It had hit 42.92 last Friday, its weakest since mid-April 2007, and is down more than 8 percent this year after appreciating 12.3 percent in 2007."Exporters kept coming in routinely... but oil buying was far more and offset the selling by exporters," a dealer at a private bank said.