Rupee hits new 30-month low

The rupee on Thursday plunged to a fresh 30-month low of 68.72, dropping 15 paise against the  dollar on fresh demand for the American currency from banks and importers in view of persistent fall in domestic equity market amidst foreign capital outflows.

Strong month-end dollar demand from importers, mainly from oil refiners, affected the rupee value against the dollar, a forex dealer said.

The domestic unit resumed higher at 68.47 as against yesterday's closing level of 68.57 per dollar at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market on initial dollar selling by banks and exporters.

However, it dropped afterwards to 68.77 on fag-end dollar demand before concluding at a fresh 30-month low of 68.72, showing a loss of 15 paise or 0.22 per cent.

The rupee had hit its all-time closing low of 68.80 per dollar on August 28, 2013 after touching 68.85 during the intra-day trade on the same day.

It hovered in a range of 68.47 and 68.77 during the day.

The dollar index was up 0.0021 per cent against a basket of six currencies in the late afternoon trade.

At Asian morning trade today, Sterling tumbled to a seven-year low on heightened fears of a possible British exit from the European Union, while the safe-haven yen gained broadly.

The dollar was higher against the yen during Asian trade trade today, with the emergence of buying in the Tokyo stock market prompting some investors to abandon the traditional safety of the Japanese currency.

Meanwhile, the benchmark BSE Sensex dropped further by 112.93 or 0.49 per cent on Thursday.

Pramit Brahmbhatt of Veracity Financial Services said, "Taking cues from global equity market, the rupee opened on a positive note just near 68.40-mark, but could not sustain at higher levels. 'Sell-off' in domestic equity market influenced the rupee to depreciate further. As our benchmark index Nifty lost 48 points on Thursday."

Thus, the rupee depreciated remarkable by 15 paise and closed at 68.72 levels. Trading range for the spot USD/INR pair is expected to be within 68.5 to 69 levels.

In forward market, premium for dollar inched up on mild paying pressure from corporates.

The benchmark six-month premium July edged up to 196.5-198.5 paise as against 196-198 paise yesterday while far forward January 2017 contract closed unchanged at 416-418 paise.

The RBI fixed the reference rate for the dollar at 68.5990 and for the euro at 75.6784.

In cross-currency trades, the rupee dropped against the pound sterling to finish at 95.76 from 95.21 yesterday and also fell against the euro at 75.79 as against 75.26 previously.

However, the domestic unit recovered against yen to finish at 61.22 per 100 yen from 61.34.