The rupee on Friday breached the psychological 47-mark after six-and-a-half months on heavy dollar outflow, but ended the day with a marginal fall of 15 paise against the American currency at 46.96/97.

The gain was aided by heavy dollar selling by exporters to meet their month-end obligations towards the later part of the trade.

However, the rise was capped amid choppy equities and the rally of the dollar against some major currencies.

India's [ Images ] foreign exchange reserves nosedived by a whopping $3 billion for the second consecutive week on likely intervention by the Reserve Bank in the market to support a falling rupee and also due to the depreciation of major global currencies.

The reserves declined by $2.938 billion to $273.300 billion for the week ended May 14, compared to $276.238 billion in the previous week, RBI data showed.

"There was a major intervention by the RBI in the market today. That apart, the depreciation of major currencies in the basket has also contributed to the fall in reserves," a senior dealer with a state-owned bank said.

For the week ended May 7, forex reserves had dropped by a significant $3.4 billion to $276.238 billion against $279.633 billion in the previous week.

Foreign currency assets, which are the major component of the country's forex kitty, dropped by $2.876 billion to $248.597 billion during the week, compared to $251.473 billion in the previous week, the RBI said.

Foreign currency assets expressed in US dollar terms include the effect of appreciation or depreciation of non-US currencies, such as the euro, sterling and yen, held in the reserves, the RBI said.