Mumbai: The rupee crashed to its all-time closing low of 92.35 (provisional) against the US dollar Monday, losing 53 paise during the session, as global crude oil prices saw a sharp spike, and the greenback strengthened amid worsening conflict in the Middle East.
Withdrawal of foreign funds amid intense selling in domestic equity markets further pressured the rupee, forex traders said.
At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 92.22 and rose briefly to 92.15 but kept losing ground through the session before eventually settling at its all-time low of 92.35 (provisional), down 53 paise from its previous close.
The rupee depreciated 18 paise against the US dollar on Friday to close at 91.82 against the American currency.
“The rupee opened sharply lower, hitting a fresh record low of 92.35 on weak global markets and an overnight surge in crude oil prices. Oil prices surged around 25 per cent in the Asian session. Strong dollar and FII outflows also pressured the rupee,” Anuj Choudhary, Research Analyst, Mirae Asset ShareKhan, said.
“We expect the rupee to trade with a negative bias on weak global market sentiments and a strong dollar amid geopolitical tensions in the Middle East. However, any intervention by the central bank may support the rupee at lower levels,” he said, adding that the USD-INR spot price is expected to trade in the range of 92-92.80.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading higher by 15.18 per cent at USD 106.8 per barrel in futures trade as the war between US-Israel and Iran intensified.
The dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.35 per cent higher at 99.33.
On the domestic equity market front, the Sensex plunged 1,352.74 points to settle at 77,566.16, while the Nifty tumbled 422.40 points to 24,028.05.
Foreign institutional investors sold equities worth Rs 6,030.38 crore on a net basis on Friday, according to exchange data.
Meanwhile, India’s forex reserves jumped USD 4.885 billion to an all-time high of USD 728.494 billion during the week ended February 27, the Reserve Bank said on Friday.
PTI
