As per the traders, it was the most significant single-day drop for the local unit since February 24.
Digital Desk: The rupee dropped to a record low against the dollar on Thursday, as Asian currencies plunged on fears about the pace and magnitude of upcoming policy tightening of the US Federal Reserve.
The Indian rupee declined 0.89 paise to 80.86 versus the US dollar, down from 79.97 at the previous closing.
The domestic currency opened at 80.28 versus the US dollar on the interbank foreign exchange market and traded in a range of 80.26 to 80.86 in today's trading.
It was the most significant single-day drop for the local unit since February 24. According to sources, traders were unable to ascertain whether the Reserve Bank of India intervened in the spot market during the session.
According to some dealers, the RBI may have intervened to stop the rupee's fall, but the intervention was not overly strong.
Meanwhile, dealers at two state-owned banks flatly disputed that the RBI sold dollars to stem the rupee's decline.
The rupee remained under pressure during the session as the Fed issued a hawkish forecast.
"Given the present pro-dollar and weak equities sentiment, we expect RBI to focus on smoothing the move towards 81 over the next few sessions," said Gautam Kumar, head of financial products at Kristal.AI, a Singapore-based digital private wealth management platform.
The dollar index jumped to a new twenty-year high of 111.80 at one point, but then sank when the Japanese yen rose after officials interfered in the foreign exchange market for the first time since 1998.
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