Finance
On Wednesday, the rupee fell 9 paise to an all-time low of 83.33 (provisional) against the US dollar, mirroring a strong greenback against major rivals worldwide and continuous foreign capital outflows.
Furthermore, a downward trend in local equities and rising crude oil prices amid geopolitical instability in the Middle East weighed on investor morale, according to FX dealers.
The rupee opened at 83.26 against the dollar on the interbank foreign exchange market. It reached an intraday low of 83.35 and a high of 83.26 against the US dollar during the trading session.
The local unit finally settled at its lifetime low of 83.33 (provisional), lower by 9 paise against its previous close.
On Tuesday, the rupee settled at 83.24 against the American currency.
“We expect the rupee to trade with a slight negative bias on the strong Dollar amid geopolitical uncertainty in the Middle East. Weak tone in domestic markets may also weigh on the rupee.
“Traders may take cues from manufacturing PMI from India and ADP non-farm employment, JOLTS job opening and ISM manufacturing PMI data from the US. Investors may remain cautious ahead of the FOMC meeting tonight. USD/INR spot price is expected to trade in a range of Rs 83-83.60,” said Anuj Choudhary – Research Analyst at Sharekhan by BNP Paribas.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which measures the strength of the US currency against a basket of six currencies, was 0.20 percent higher at 106.87.
Brent crude futures rose 1.34 percent to USD 86.16 a barrel, the global oil benchmark.
The BSE Sensex was trading 283.60 points, or 0.44 percent, lower at 63,591.33, while the broader NSE Nifty was down 90.45 points, or 0.47 percent, at 18,989.15.
Forex traders said the rupee was under pressure due to weak macroeconomic data from India and FII withdrawals.
The seasonally adjusted S&P Global India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) fell from 57.5 in September to 55.5 in October, marking the slowest rate of increase since February.
According to exchange data, foreign institutional investors were net sellers in the capital market on Tuesday, offloading shares worth Rs 696.02 crore.
Source:FE
