Rupee in free fall, down 60 paise to new all-time low of 93.49 against US dollar

Mumbai: The rupee crashed 60 paise to a fresh intra-day low of 93.49 against the US dollar on Friday as the greenback strengthened further and FII outflows continued unabated amid the ongoing West Asia conflict. Elevated global crude oil prices put further pressure on the local unit, forex traders said, adding that even positive sentiments at the domestic equity markets could not prevent the crash. Suggestions that global crude oil prices may hit USD 180/barrel also weighed on sentiments.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the local unit opened at 92.92 against the greenback and soon breached the 93-mark for the first time. The local unit kept losing ground and was trading at 93.49, down 60 paise from its previous close. The rupee slumped 49 paise to close at its previous record low of 92.89 against the US dollar on Wednesday. Forex markets were closed on Thursday on account of Gudhi Padwa. The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.17 per cent higher at 99.40. Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading 0.79 per cent lower at USD 107.8 per barrel in futures trade. On the domestic equity market front, the Sensex rebounded from Thursday's crash, and was up 442.88 points, or 0.60 per cent, at 74,650.12, while the Nifty surged 146.65 points, or 0.64 per cent, to 23,148.80. Foreign institutional investors sold equities worth Rs 7,558.19 crore on a net basis on Thursday, according to exchange data.