Rupee falls 5 paise to lowest-ever closing level of 83.63 against US dollar
Mumbai, Jul 18: Rupee depreciated 5 paise and settled at its all-time low of 83.63 against the US dollar on Thursday, as the strength of the American currency in the overseas market and overnight surge in crude oil prices weighed on investor sentiments.
Forex traders expect the rupee to trade with a slight negative bias on strong US dollar and weak Asian as well as European currencies. The US dollar strengthened, while the pound weakened amid disappointing labour market data from the UK.
However, positive domestic markets and foreign fund inflows cushioned the downside in the domestic unit to a certain extent.
At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local unit opened at 83.57, and touched an intraday high of 83.55 and a low of 83.66 against the dollar during the session.
It finally settled at 83.63 against the American currency, registering a loss of 5 paise from its previous close.
On Tuesday, the rupee closed at 83.58 against the American currency. The rupee had witnessed its previous lowest closing level of 83.61 on July 15.
Forex and equity markets were closed on Wednesday on account of Muharram.
"A bounce back in crude oil prices may further pressurise the rupee. However, record high domestic equities and fresh foreign inflows may support the rupee at lower levels," said Anuj Choudhary – Research Analyst at Sharekhan by BNP Paribas.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading higher by 0.09 per cent at 103.83.
Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, were trading marginally lower by 0.01 per cent at USD 85.07 per barrel.
In the domestic equity market, the 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 626.91 points to settle at its all-time high of 81,343.46, while Nifty surged 187.85 points to a record peak of 24,800.85 points.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net buyers in the capital markets on Thursday as they purchased shares worth Rs 5,483.63 crore, according to exchange data.
Meanwhile, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Wednesday maintained India's GDP growth forecast at 7 per cent for the current financial year, citing that a rebound in agriculture is expected given above-normal monsoon projections.
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Nine dead as fire breaks out in residential building in east Delhi
New Delhi (PTI): A fire broke out in a residential building in east Delhi's Vivek Vihar early Sunday, leaving nine people belonging to two families dead, including a toddler, officials said.
The incident was reported around 3.48 am at a four-storey building in Vivek Vihar Phase-I, following which police, fire and disaster management teams rushed to the spot.
According to the police, the blaze engulfed flats on the second, third and fourth floors of the building, prompting a large-scale rescue operation.The cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained.
The Delhi Fire Service (DFS) said nine charred bodies were recovered from different floors.
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"One body was recovered from the first floor, five from the second floor and three from the staircase which was found locked," the DFS officer said.
Those found dead on the second floor have been identified as Arvind Jain (60), his wife Anita Jain (58), son Nishant Jain (35), daughter-in-law Anchal Jain (33) and grandchild Akash Jain.
On the third floor, three members of a family were found dead. They were identified as Nitin Jain (50), wife Shailey Jain (48) and son Samyak Jain (25).
On the first floor a woman identified as Shikha Jain (45) was found dead while her husband Naveen Jain (48) sustained injuries.
A senior police officer said, "Around 10 to 15 people were rescued from the premises during the firefighting operation. Two of them, who sustained minor injuries, were shifted to the Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital."
A total of 12 fire tenders were pressed into service to douse the flames, while teams from the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA), traffic police and local police assisted in the rescue and evacuation efforts.
Police said the fire was brought under control after several hours. Efforts are underway to determine the cause of the fire, police said.
Further investigation and proceedings are underway.
