Indian Rupee 100 notes
An employee arranges Indian currency notes at a cash counter inside a bank in Agartala, capital of India's northeastern state of Tripura, June 3, 2010. Reuters

The Indian rupee fell to a two-week low of 56.00/02 paise against the dollar in the morning trade Thursday, tracking the strengthening of the dollar in the global market. The dollar gained globally, chasing the upbeat U.S. data of retail sales which eased the concerns about the monetary control.

Besides the strengthening of the dollar against other currencies, the increased demand from the importers for the greenback in domestic market also dragged the rupee down for the fourth consecutive session.

The rupee shed more than 34 paise from its previous close of 55.65 per dollar Tuesday.

The weak opening of the equity markets also put pressure on the Indian currency.

After opening flat, both the BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty were trading in the red in the morning session Thursday. Sensex was trading at 17681, down 46 points from its previous close, and Nifty was at 5368, down 12 points. CNX Midcap index was up 0.1 percent and BSE Smallcap index was up 0.3 percent.

Banking and Finance, Auto, IT and PSUs stocks were trading higher while metal index was trading in the red.

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