Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: The Indian rupee fell 23 paise against the US dollar to settle at a new all-time low of 91.01 (provisional) on Tuesday, weighed down by relentless foreign fund outflows, the lack of a breakthrough in the India-US trade deal, and persistent US dollar buying.
During the Tuesday session, the rupee lost 36 paise from its previous close against the greenback to hit its lowest-ever level of 91.14, but regained some ground later in the day. Even a weaker greenback and a sharp decline in global crude oil prices could not prevent the slide in the local unit, the media, quoting forex traders, reported.
The Indian currency has fallen from 90 per US dollar to 91 in the last 10 trading sessions. The unit has slipped 1 percent against the greenback in the past five sessions alone.
According to forex traders, the rupee might even cross the 92 per dollar-mark this month.
At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 90.87 against the greenback and traded in the range of 90.76 to 91.14 before settling at 91.01 (provisional), down 23 paise from its previous close.
On Monday, the local unit settled at 90.78 against the US dollar, registering a loss of 29 paise from its previous close.
“The Indian rupee slid to a new lifetime low as US dollar buying continued with reports that President Donald Trump has not agreed to the new trade proposals from India. So, the deal goes into limbo until a new one is finalized,, said Anil Kumar Bhansali, Head of Treasury and Executive Director, Finrex Treasury Advisors LLP.
“FPIs will continue to sell while speculators will continue to take USD/INR up in the absence of RBI intervention… 92 looks imminent unless the RBI has other ideas or a deal is finalized,” he said, adding that the range for tomorrow is expected at 90.75 to 91.25.
Foreign institutional investors sold equities worth Rs. 1,468.32 crore on Monday, exchange data showed.
In addition, wholesale price inflation stayed in the negative for the second consecutive month in November at (-) 0.32 percent, even though there was an uptick in prices of food articles like pulses and vegetables on a month-on-month basis, government data showed on Monday.
The Wholesale Price Index (WPI)-based inflation was at (-) 1.21 percent in October and 2.16 percent in November last year.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.08 percent lower at 98.23.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading 1.78 percent lower at USD 59.48 per barrel in futures trade.
On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share benchmark index, Sensex, tanked 533.50 points to settle at 84,679.86, while the Nifty was down 167.20 points to close at 25,860.10.
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