Rupee Briefly Hits 80 Per Dollar,Closes At 79.98

“The Indian rupee opened in the green on strength in domestic equity markets and a weak US dollar. However, the rupee weakened in the latter half of the day.”

New Delhi: The rupee on Monday briefly touched the 80 per dollar mark. However, it closed just below that mark, reversing the sharp gains from the session earlier, news agency PTI reported.

According to Bloomberg and Reuters, the partly convertible rupee collapsed to a record low of around 79.98 against the dollar.

On Friday the Indian currency closed at 79.88.

Both Bloomberg, as well as Reuters, reported that the domestic currency had gone down to an intra-day low of 79.985 against the greenback during the session.

However, the Press Trust Of India said that the rupee had briefly hit an intra-day low of 80 against the currency of the United States and closed just below that at 79.98.

At the interbank forex market, the rupee opened at 79.76 against the dollar however it soon lost ground and hit the Psychological low mark of 80.00 against the greenback.

The domestic currency recovered some lost ground provisionally at 79.97, recording a drop of 15 paise over its previous close of 79.82 against the American currency.

Reports last week said, some banks have started asking 80 rupees for an Indian rupee in currency exchange transactions, one such bank is the State Bank Of India.

The reversal in the crude prices, which have been fluctuating in recent times has gone against the rupee.

After falling below the 100 mark earlier in the session, Brent crude prices floated around $104 a barrel, which analysts said added to the burden on the rupee.

More than 80 percent of India’s oil needs are met through imports, high crude prices have threatened to increase the country’s trade and current account deficits when the Indian currency has repeatedly crossed several record lows.

Foreign investors getting away from the Indian stocks and other assets has hit the currency hard.

“The Indian rupee opened in the green on strength in domestic equity markets and a weak US dollar. However, the rupee weakened in the latter half of the day on a surge in crude oil prices and selling pressure by FIIs. FII outflows rose to ₹ 1,649 crores on Friday,” said Anuj Choudhary who is a research analyst at Sharkhan.

The analyst further said that the Indian rupee is likely to trade with a positive bias of a rise in risk appetite in global markets and weakness in the US dollar. he also said Improved global risk sentiments may also support the rupee.

Mr. Chouhan also said “However, a pullback in crude oil prices and continued selling pressure by FIIs my cap sharp gains in the rupee. USDINR spot price is expected to trade in a range of ₹ 79.20 to ₹ 80.80 in the next couple of sessions.”

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