The Indian rupee on Monday ended at its lifetime closing low of 83.28 against the dollar as a jump in crude oil prices and weakness in other Asian currencies pressured the currency.
The rupee closed at 83.2775/28 against the US dollar as against its previous close of 83.26. The currency hit its previous record closing low of 83.2675 on September 18.
Anindya Banerjee, VP – Currency Derivatives, Kotak Securities Ltd, said, “It is a fresh all-time closing high. However, we suspect the RBI would remain a major seller of the US dollars to prevent rupee from making a move above 83.30. Over this week, West Asian tensions and the US central bank member speeches will be key driver of USD-rupee. We could see a new high in the pair and range expand to 83.00 and 83.50 on spot.”
The dollar index held steady at 106.5 and Asian currencies weakened, with the Korean won leading losses after a 0.27% fall. The rupee is “slowly weakening but remains sticky as usual,” a foreign exchange trader at a foreign bank said.
Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) have pulled out Rs 11,206 crore from the cash market in October so far.
Oil prices rose more than 5 per cent on Friday as investors remained on edge about escalating geopolitical tensions in the Middle East.
The stickiness is largely attributable to the RBI whose likely interventions have limited the weakness. The RBI likely intervened during the earlier part of the spot trading session and also supplied US dollars during the mid-day fixing window, traders said.
India’s foreign exchange reserves have declined by $14.154 billion in almost one month due to valuation loss and the RBI intervention in the currency spot market to curb the fall in the rupee against the dollar. From $598.897 billion as of September 1, the foreign exchange reserves have dipped to $584.742 billion, the lowest in more than five months, on October 6, the RBI data showed.
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
First uploaded on: 16-10-2023 at 10:34 IST
