Rupee declines 3 paise to 88.75 against dollar

Mumbai: Rupee consolidated in a narrow range and settled for the day lower by 3 paise at 88.75 against the US dollar on Monday, on persistent foreign capital outflows and rise in risk-off sentiments.

Forex traders said rupee is hovering near its all-time low level as investors remained concerned over global trade uncertainties and impact of US visa fee hike on India’s IT services exports. Moreover, the RBI policy meeting outcome on October 1, is expected to influence rupee and government bond movements.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 88.69 against the US dollar, and traded in the range of 88.69-88.81. It finally settled for the day at 88.75, registering a loss of 3 paise. On Friday, the rupee rebounded from its all-time low to close 4 paise higher at 88.72 against the US dollar.

The rupee fell to its lifetime low of 88.76 against the American currency on September 25.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading at 97.96, lower by 0.19 per cent.

Meanwhile, the US has announced the imposition of a 100 per cent tariff on branded or patented drugs entering the US from October 1, except for pharmaceutical companies building manufacturing plants in the US.

India’s forex reserves dropped $396 million to $702.57 billion for the week ended September 19, according to the RBI data. In the previous reporting week, the overall reserves had jumped $4.698 billion to $702.966 billion.