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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Gambhir flies back home for "personal emergency", to rejoin in Adelaide
Perth (PTI): India head coach Gautam Gambhir has flown back to India with his family due to "personal emergency" and is unlikely to be present during the the two-day pink ball warm-up game in Canberra starting November 30.
Gambhir, however, is slated to directly link up with the squad in Adelaide before the 'Pink Ball Test' starting December 6.
It is understood that Gambhir has sought permission from BCCI brass with regards to his return.
"He left with his family on early Tuesday morning for India. It is an unavoidable personal emergency. He will be back in Adelaide before the start of the second Test match," a BCCI official told PTI on conditions of anonymity.
The Indian team will leave for Canberra on Wednesday, November 27 where the entire team is expected to attend an official reception thrown in their honour by the Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
The two-day Pink ball match will give the Indian team a chance to get some game time under its belt.
PMXI is a squad full of youngsters but India will get some good match practice with pacer Scott Boland expected to play the game.
The rules of the game will be decided by the two teams and it is expected that everyone will bat and ball as it won't have an official status.
