Rupee falls 1 paisa to all-time low of 84.40 against US dollar in early trade
Mumbai, Nov 13 (PTI) The rupee slipped 1 paisa to an all-time low of 84.40 against the US dollar in early trade on Wednesday, as persistent foreign fund outflows and a muted trend in domestic equities weighed on the local unit.
Forex traders said the USDINR pair has shown significant volatility in recent sessions, with the rupee inching closer to its all-time low of 84.40. This downward pressure is largely driven by global factors, particularly the Dollar Index’s strengthening.
At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 84.40 against the greenback, registering a fall of 1 paisa over its previous close.
On Tuesday, the rupee fell 1 paisa to a new lifetime low of 84.39 against the US dollar.
"It appears that the rupee has established support around the current levels, with depreciation limited near 84.50," CR Forex Advisors MD Amit Pabari said.
Pabari further added that the RBI stands tall as the depreciation in the rupee seems to be limited as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) continues to sell the dollars to protect the sharp depreciation.
"For the 5th consecutive week, India’s forex reserves declined, possibly due to RBI selling the dollars. Currently, the forex reserves of India stand at USD 682 billion down from the recent all-time high of USD 704 billion," he said.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading lower by 0.04 per cent at 105.98.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, rose 0.25 per cent to USD 72.07 per barrel in futures trade.
On the domestic equity market front, Sensex was trading 210.66 points, or 0.27 per cent lower, to 78,464.52 points. The Nifty fell 100.45 points, or 0.42 per cent, to 23,783.00 points.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the capital markets on Tuesday, as they offloaded shares worth Rs 3,024.31 crore, according to exchange data.
On the macroeconomic front, retail inflation breached the Reserve Bank's upper tolerance level, soaring to a 14-month high of 6.21 per cent in October mainly on account of rising food prices.
Inflation based on the consumer price index (CPI) was 5.49 per cent in September and 4.87 per cent in the year-ago month.
India's industrial production expanded by 3.1 per cent in September after recording a contraction in the preceding month, as all three major segments -- mining, manufacturing, and power generation -- showed improvement.
However, the growth in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) during the month was lower than 6.4 per cent registered in September 2023.
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Was like entering gas chamber: Priyanka Gandhi on returning to Delhi from Wayanad
New Delhi (PTI): Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who has returned to Delhi from Kerala's Wayanad after contesting the Lok Sabha bypoll, said coming back to the national capital was like entering a "gas chamber" and called for "putting our heads together" and finding a solution for cleaner air.
The Congress general secretary said Delhi's pollution gets worse every year.
"Coming back to Delhi from Wayanad where the air is beautiful and the AQI is 35, was like entering a gas chamber. The blanket of smog is even more shocking when seen from the air," she said in a post on X.
"Delhi's pollution gets worse every year. We really should put our heads together and find a solution for cleaner air. It's beyond this party or that, it's practically impossible to breathe especially for kids, elders and those with respiratory issues. We just have to do something about it," Priyanka Gandhi said.
Priyanka Gandhi has made her electoral debut from Wayanad polling for which took place on Wednesday.
She has thanked people for exercising their franchise and said they are an inspiration for her to work even harder as well as keep fighting for the ideals the nation was built on.
A bypoll was necessitated in the hill constituency after Rahul Gandhi, who won the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat in the general elections held earlier this year, vacated it after he also won from the Rae Bareli constituency.
