Rupee falls 12 paise to hit all-time low of 83.38 against US dollar
Mumbai, Nov 20: The rupee declined by 12 paise to settle at its all-time low of 83.38 against the US dollar on Monday, tracking a negative trend in domestic equities.
Foreign fund outflows also weighed on the local unit, forex traders said.
At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local unit opened at 83.25 and settled at its lifetime low level of 83.38 against the dollar, registering a fall of 12 paise from its previous close.
On Friday, the rupee settled at 83.26 against the American currency. Earlier, the rupee closed at its lowest level of 83.33 against the dollar on November 13, this year.
"The Indian rupee ended weaker on Monday as sustained dollar demand from state-run and foreign banks maintained pressure on the local unit. The rupee finally settled at 83.3400 against the US dollar versus its close at 83.2700 on Thursday.
"The currency had previously closed at this level on November 10, the same day it fell to a record low of 83.42. The rupee ended weak despite a rally in its Asian peers," Sriram Iyer, Senior Research Analyst at Reliance Securities, said.
The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.42 per cent lower at 103.48.
"Most Asian currencies strengthened, with the offshore Chinese yuan up over 0.6 per cent and leading the gains as the dollar weakened further this Monday's session. Additionally, the rupee has also struggled as dollar demand has persisted amid a lack of inflows," Iyer said.
In the overseas markets, the US Dollar Index was trading marginally weaker against the basket of currencies this Monday afternoon in Asian trading as traders awaited FOMC minutes this week, which could indicate when the Fed could start cutting rates.
Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, rose 0.66 per cent to USD 81.14 per barrel.
On the domestic equity market front, Sensex fell 139.58 points or 0.21 per cent to settle at 65,655.15 points. The Nifty declined 37.80 points or 0.19 per cent to 19,694.00 points.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the capital markets on Monday as they sold shares worth Rs 645.72 crore, according to exchange data.
Meanwhile, India's forex kitty decreased by USD 462 million to USD 590.321 billion for the week ended November 10, the Reserve Bank said on Friday.
In the previous week, the overall reserves had increased by USD 4.672 billion to USD 590.783 billion.
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Indore MBA student's classmate abused body after killing her, performed witchcraft: Police
Indore (PTI): The classmate of a 24-year-old female MBA student, arrested in Indore for her murder, allegedly abused the body after the killing and also performed occult rituals while on the run, police said.
On February 13, people complained of a foul smell emanating from a closed house in the city's Dwarkapuri police station area.
After police arrived at the scene, the naked body of a 24-year-old woman was found in the house.
The woman was pursuing a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree from a city college and the body was found in her classmate's rented house, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Shrikrishna Lalchandani told PTI on Monday.
The classmate fled after the incident. He was taken into custody in Mumbai and is being interrogated after his arrest, the official said.
Referring to the accused's interrogation, the official said he allegedly strangled his classmate to death and then "abused" the body.
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"The accused also performed witchcraft near Panvel (in Navi Mumbai) while on the run. The accused claims that he was mentally disturbed after the murder and wanted to communicate with the woman's spirit through witchcraft," he said.
According to the DCP, the woman and the accused were in a close relationship.
"The accused suspected that she was talking to other men. Enraged, he killed her and fled," the official said.
After the woman's body was found, her father accused the classmate of trying to extort money from his daughter using her obscene photos and then torturing her to death.
The accused had even posted these photos on her college WhatsApp group, he alleged.
