Rupee breaches 64-mark, hits 20-month low against dollar

Continuing its weakness, the rupee dipped below the 64-mark to trade at 64.25 against the American currency, its lowest since September 2013 on sustained capital outflows by foreign funds.
Sustained dollar demand from importers and banks kept pressure on the Indian unit, forex dealers said.
Surge in crude oil prices globally too weighed on the rupee, however, dollar's weakness overseas, capped losses in the local unit, they said.
Persistent foreign funds outflows, weighed down by lingering concerns over MAT and delay in passage of key tax reform bills in Parliament, dragged down the rupee to 20-month lows.
The rupee opened lower at 63.75 as against last closing level of 63.54 at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market, later it slid further to breach 64-level to trade at 64.25 at mid-session, showing a significant fall of 71 paise.

Meanwhile, brent prices fell 56 cents to USD 67.21 in early Asian trade after hitting 2015-high in the previous session.
Meanwhile, the BSE Sensex was trading 189.09 points or 0.71 per cent down at 26,528.28 at 1415 hrs.