The rupee was trading around 63.75/$ in early trade, down 12 paise from Tuesday’s closing of 63.53/$.
Currency dealers said that intraday the rupee could hit 64/$ if the dollar demand persists. At this level, exporters are expected to sell dollars.
Further, with the curency having fallen by over 1.5% so far this week, oil marketing companies could step up dollar purchases as well, fearing a further slide in the currency . This could put more pressure intraday.
Caution ahead of the two-day US Federal Reserve’s policy meet that begins today also kept the rupee down.
However, currency dealers also said that the Reserve Bank of India may step in to sell dollars to prevent a sharp fall of the rupee. Until October, the RBI had been a net buyer of dollars. But the central bank is believed to have sold dollars around 63.59/$ on Tuesday.