The rupee It collapsed to a new record low on Friday as it breached the 81-mark, down 39 paise, against the dollar for the first time, PTI reported. The rupee is under pressure after the US Federal Reserve raised benchmark interest rates by 75bps on Wednesday, hinting that more hikes are on the cards in its war against rising inflation.
Earlier on Thursday, the rupee fell 83 paise, its biggest single-day loss in nearly seven months, to close at an all-time low of 80.79 against the US dollar. In addition, the US dollar index rose above a 20-year high following the Fed’s policy announcement.
On the interbank currency, the rupee opened at 81.08 against the greenback, then fell further to 81.23, down 44 paise from its previous close.
The Bank of England has raised its base rate by 50 basis points (bps) to a 14-year high of 2.25%. The Bank of Japan intervened in the currency market for the first time in 24 years to stem the fall in the yen after holding rates at record lows, the IFA Global Research Academy said, adding that the Swiss National Bank increased rates at a record 75bp to 0.5. per cent.
On Thursday, the RBI was conspicuous by its absence from the spot market as the rupee fell 1 percent, possibly because it wanted the rupee to catch up, said Anil Kumar Bhansali, head of Treasury at Finrex Treasury Advisors.
“All important events have wrapped up this month as we wait for the RBI MPC to give its verdict on September 30, 2022,” Bhansali added.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, advanced 0.05% to 111.41. Global benchmark Brent crude futures fell 0.57% to $89.94 a barrel.
On the domestic stock market front, the 30-share BSE Sensex was trading 558.59 points or 0.94 percent lower at 58,561.13, while the broader NSE Nifty fell 153.10 points or a 0.87 percent to 17,476.70.
Foreign institutional investors were net sellers in the capital market on Thursday as they offloaded shares worth Rs 2,509.55 crore, exchange data showed.
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