Re plunges 24P to fresh low of 58.39 against greenback

 The rupee came off from its lifetime intra-day low of 58.98, still logging its all-time closing low of 58.39, down by 24 paise, against the Greenback on weakness in local equities amid dollar outflows and USD demand from importers and some banks, extending losses for the fifth straight day.

However, hopes of the central bank’s intervention at lower levels and sluggish dollar overseas later helped the rupee recovery, a forex dealer said.

At the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market, the domestic currency commenced lower at 58.30 a dollar from overnight close of 58.15 and dropped further to historic low of 58.98 on bearish stock markets amid selling of government bonds by overseas investors to book profit.
However, expectations of interference by the Reserve Bank of India at rupee’s lower level and weak dollar overseas with the yen higher after Japans central bank offered no new easing moves in its latest policy decision, later helped the rupee to bounce back to a high of 58.2450 before settling at 58.39, an all-time closing low, down by 24 paise or 0.41 pct. The Indian benchmark sensex today slumped by 298 points or 1.53 pct while FIIs sold shares worth Rs 114 crore yesterday as per provisional data with stock exchanges. The dollar index was down by 0.30 pct against a basket of six major global rivals.

Pramit Brahmbhatt, CEO, Alpari Financial Services (India) said, ‘Indian Rupee continued to trade weak today also taking cues from debt outflows. During the day Rupee made new all time low and somehow managed to recover from the peak level, expecting a possibility of RBI intervention though no such announcement was made. Rupee may depreciate further as the weak domestic fundamentals, record current account deficit and high inflation still remains main concerns for the Indian economy.’