Mumbai, Jan 10: The rupee declined 18 paise to breach the 86-mark against the US dollar for the first time on Friday as it failed to resist pressure from a stronger American currency and huge outflow of foreign funds.
The local unit settled at 86.04 against the US currency.
Surging crude oil prices overseas and negative sentiment in domestic equity markets also weighed down on the Indian currency, forex traders said.
Also, dollar strengthened on increased demand amid the anticipation of restrictive trade measures by the new US administration after Donald Trump takes over as president on January 20.
At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 85.88, hit the intra-day peak of 85.85 before breaching the 86-mark to settle at the lowest-ever level of 86.04 against the greenback, 18 paise lower from its previous close.
On Thursday, the rupee gained 5 paise to settle at 85.86 against the US dollar, recovering from the steep decline of 17 paise in the preceding session.
Anuj Choudhary, Research Analyst at Mirae Asset Sharekhan, said the rupee hit another record low as domestic markets continued to slide and FIIs outflows sustained. A strong US dollar and surge in crude oil prices also pressured the rupee.
"Weak tone in the domestic markets, a strong greenback and persistent FII outflows may continue to put downside pressure on the rupee. Rising crude oil prices, as well as surge in the US treasury yields may further weigh on the domestic unit.
"However, any RBI intervention may support rupee at lower levels. Traders may take cues from the non-farm payrolls report and consumer sentiment data from the US. USD-INR spot price is expected to trade in a range of Rs 85.80 to Rs 86.15," he said.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.01 per cent higher at 109.01. The 10-year US bond yields also rose to its April 2024 level at 4.69 per cent.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, surged 1.96 per cent to USD 78.43 per barrel in futures trade.
In the domestic equity market, the 30-share BSE Sensex declined 241.30 points, or 0.31 per cent, to settle at 77,378.91 points, while the Nifty dropped 95.00 points, or 0.40 per cent, to 23,431.50 points. The indices have been on the downward track for the past three sessions.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) offloaded Rs 2,254.68 crore in the capital markets on a net basis on Friday, according to exchange data.
The latest government data released on Friday showed the country's industrial production (IIP) growth accelerated to a six-month high of 5.2 per cent year-on-year in November 2024, riding on the increased festive demand and pick up in manufacturing sector.
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Nagpur, Jan 10: Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday said NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar praised the RSS after realising how the outfit managed to overcome the fake narrative spread by the opposition in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
The opposition had claimed BJP wanted to win 400 seats to change the Constitution and end reservations, a narrative which BJP leaders later claimed hit the party hard.
On Pawar praising the RSS recently, the CM said the MVA was successful in creating a fake narrative during the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
"When assembly polls were approaching, many people from diverse fields who are inspired by the RSS played their role and burst the balloon of this fake narrative. Sharad Pawar saheb is very intelligent. He would have certainly studied this aspect. He realised that this (RSS) is not a regular political power but a nationalist power. In any competition it is good to praise others," he added.
That is why Pawar may have praised the RSS, Fadnavis said.
Speaking at an interaction with senior editor Vivek Ghalsasi at Late Vilasji Fadnis Jivhala programme here, Fadnavis also said he had asked for organisational work when Eknath Shinde was made chief minister in June 2022, but senior leaders asked him to join the government.
He also said Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked him not to behave like an extra-constitutional authority in the government.
He said the decision to become deputy chief minister on the command of the party leadership earned him a lot of praise from the cadre.
After the massive mandate the ruling alliance received in the 2024 assembly polls, Fadnavis said people and party workers would not have been happy if the CM was not from the BJP.
Shinde himself agreed within minutes that the CM must be from the BJP, which itself got 132 seats and was close to a majority of its own in the 288-member assembly, he added.
On Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray meeting him during the winter sessions of the legislature in Nagpur, Fadnavis said he had announced he would not indulge in politics of revenge after becoming CM and all leaders responded positively to it.
On chances of the NCP (SP) and NCP coming closer or reuniting, Fadnavis said, "If you see the developments that took place from 2019 to 2024, I realised never say never and anything can happen. Uddhav Thackeray goes to some other party and Ajit Pawar comes to us. In politics anything can happen though I am not saying this should happen."
He praised BJP leader Arun Gujarati from whom he learnt patience, which he claimed was an important quality in politics along with the ability to take criticism.
In a lighter vein, he said, "I only get angry when I am hungry. If you see me angry then give me something to eat and my anger will go away."