Indian Rupee hits fresh low at 72.73 to a dollar

The rupee hit a fresh low against the dollar for the second day as it touched ₹72.73 in the afternoon trade as compared to the previous close of ₹72.45 a dollar, which was an all-time low..

The previous intra-day low was on Monday when the currency hit ₹72.67 to a dollar.

A combination of domestic and international factors like worsening balance of payments situation and trade wars have impacted emerging market currencies and the rupee is no exception.

Besides, unabated foreign fund outflows, sharp plunge in domestic equities with the benchmark Sensex crashing by over 500 points, too, weighed on the domestic unit, dealers said.

The rupee Tuesday opened on a positive note by inching 20 paise higher at 72.25 against the US dollar amid increased selling by banks and exporters.

The currency, however, failed to sustain strength and weakened to hit a fresh lifetime low of 72.73, down by 28 paise over its previous closing of 72.45. It breached its previous record low (intra-day) of 72.67 hit Monday.

There were no signs of change in trading preference of foreign portfolio investors who sold shares worth a net of Rs 841.68 crore. Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) also offloaded equities worth a net of Rs 289.66 crore Monday, according to provision data.

Meanwhile, the BSE Sensex plunged 509.04 points, or 1.34 per cent, to close at 37,413.13 in Tuesday’s session.

Stay on top of NRI news with the WelcomeNRI.