Rupee plunges the 74 mark; all-time low in recent times
Mumbai, October 5: Continuing its downward slide, the Indian Rupee has hit a new low against the US Dollar on Friday. For the first time ever, the Indian currency crashed below the 74-mark against the US Dollar, even after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) kept its key policy rates unchanged. Yesterday, the rupee touched a record low of 73.81, which were 24 paise more as against Wednesday’s close of 73.34 per dollar.
The gas and oil stocks continue to drag the equities market lower which is further clubbed with negative global cues and of course a weak rupee. Needless to say, investors are anxious over unrelenting foreign capital outflows. Fear of a widening current account dearth in the wake of rising crude oil prices.
The local currency, at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market, opened much higher at 73.56 against dollar against its earlier record low closing at 73.58. Unfortunately, it botched to withstand the initial strength and fell back, breaching the 74-mark.
Meanwhile, the RBI today retained the repo rate at the same percentage – 6.5%, taking the market somewhat by surprise, which had expected the rate hike to be slated at 25 basis points.
In the late afternoon trade, the BSE Sensex too plunged by 792.17 points.