Mumbai, India (BBN)-Extending its losses for the fourth session, the rupee weakened by 26 paise to a fresh 9-month low of 68.51 against the US dollar at the Interbank Foreign Exchange market Wednesday due to sustained capital outflows and strengthening of dollar against other currencies overseas.
Forex dealers said apart from heavy demand for the American currency from importers, persistent outflows by foreign funds and the dollar’s strength against other currencies overseas mainly weighed on the domestic unit, reports The Hindu Business Line quoting PTI.
The domestic unit opened weak by 11 paise at 68.36 against the previous close of 68.25.
It hovered in a range of 68.51 and 68.36 before quoting at 68.48, down 23 paise at 3:15pm local time.
The dollar hovered near a recent 13 1/2-year peak on Wednesday, taking a breather after surging on expectations that US interest rates will rise further than earlier anticipated due to prospects of increased fiscal stimulus under a Trump administration.
Against a basket of six major currencies, the dollar last stood at 101.05.
That was up from Tuesday’s low of 100.65 and not too far from Friday’s high of 101.48, which was the highest for the dollar index since April 2003.
Meanwhile, the benchmark BSE Sensex was trading higher by 122.91 points or 0.47 per cent at 26,083.69 due to increased buying in select stocks coupled with covering up of pending short-positions ahead of November month F&O expiry tomorrow.
BBN/SS/AI