A stronger US dollar overseas and unrelenting foreign fund outflows led to a 6 paise fall of the Indian currency against the dollar in the opening trade on Thursday, as reported by the PTI. Besides, a sell-off in domestic equities and risk-averse sentiments weighed on the local unit, forex traders said.
According to the report, at the interbank foreign exchange (Forex), the domestic unit opened weak at 83.05 against the dollar, then slipped further to quote 83.06, a fall of 6 paise over its previous close. The local currency also hit a high of 83.07 in early deals.
In the previous session on Wednesday, the rupee plunged 60 paise to end at 83 against the dollar.
Reuters quoting traders reported that a sell-off in the currency had occurred in the last 1.5 hours of trading on Wednesday due to significant corporate dollar and custodian outflows.
The domestic currency’s “saving grace” following “yesterday’s disaster” is that it stayed largely unchanged at about the 83 levels after regular trading hours, a Currency Dealer at a Mumbai-based bank told Reuters.
The dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, rose 0.07 per cent to 113.06.
On the other hand, the Japanese yen hit a fresh trough of 149.96 per dollar, with the brittle Japanese currency losing ground for 11 successive sessions, including 32-year lows six times.
Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, slipped 0.17 per cent to $92.25 per barrel.
In the domestic equity market, the 30-share BSE Sensex was trading 140 points (0.24 per cent lower) at 58,967, while the broader NSE Nifty fell 43 points (0.25 per cent) to 17,468.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the capital markets as they offloaded shares worth Rs 453.91 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data.