Rupee Hits New All-Time Low of 85.35 Against US Dollar Amidst Strong Greenback and Foreign Capital Outflows
Mumbai: The Indian rupee depreciated for the fourth consecutive session on Friday, falling 8 paise to a new all-time low of 85.35 against the US dollar. The decline was driven by the strengthening of the American currency and persistent outflows of foreign capital.
Analysts noted that the rupee’s weakness was largely due to the dollar’s strength, which saw increased demand from importers for month-end and year-end payment obligations. Despite this, the fall in the rupee was somewhat contained by easing global crude oil prices and positive cues from the domestic equity markets.
At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened at 85.31 and slipped further, hitting its lifetime low of 85.35 against the greenback, a loss of 8 paise from the previous day’s closing level. On Thursday, the rupee had plunged 12 paise to a record low of 85.27, following a decline of 13 paise over the previous two sessions.
The dollar index, which measures the strength of the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, was trading 0.04% higher at 107.93, amid rising US Treasury yields, with the 10-year bond yield hovering around 4.50%.
Meanwhile, Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, rose 0.07% to USD 73.31 per barrel in futures trade.
On the domestic equity front, the 30-share benchmark Sensex rose by 207.16 points, or 0.26%, to 78,679.64 points, while the Nifty gained 88.50 points, or 0.37%, to 23,838.70 points.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the capital markets on Thursday, offloading shares worth Rs 2,376.67 crore, as per exchange data.
