Mumbai, Nov. 4: The rupee today slumped to a new one-year low of 45.54 against the dollar, whose gains in India were fuelled by its march against key global currencies.

The slide of 24 paise over the last finish pushes down the rupee to a trough not seen since October 28 last year, when it had settled at 45.54.

Dealers in the inter-bank forex market, where trading was sparse because of the Id holiday, said there was a surge in demand from importers for the dollar, which has hardened against the euro and yen in the global market over the past few days.

The US currency scaled a new 25-month high against the yen on Thursday after data showed strong US growth.

The greenback has grabbed an upper hand in world currency markets ever since the US Federal Reserve raised interest rates by 25 basis points at its recent meeting.

Remarks from its chief, Alan Greenspan, at Congressional economic committee hearing that the world’s largest economy had to watch out for inflation have also reinforced the perception that dollar will stay robust.

Back home, there have been few signs that foreign institutional investors (FIIs) will go slow on their stock sales. These funds, which sloshed a record $8.6 billion into equity in January-September this year, have sold shares worth $ 840 million in October alone.

The flight of dollars that this led to has also weighed down the rupee, which has lost 3 per cent of its value since early October.

The Indian unit opened with a 10 paise loss at 45.39 and tumbled to 45.43 in late-morning deals, shadowing the dollar’s increase against major global currencies on Friday. The slide was checked somewhat at 45.40, but a tumble to 45.54 could not be prevented as dollar-buyers emerged again.

Analysts said the Reserve Bank did keep a watch on the currency swings, but stopped short of direct intervention to shore up the Indian currency through state-run banks. Some said the rupee could rally on Monday, when plenty of dollar supplies are expected to flow in.