The Indian rupee collapsed to a lifetime low of 69.10 against the dollar by plunging 49 paise in early trade on Thursday, following a spike in oil prices and concerns of higher inflation and widening fiscal deficit, PTI reported. It recovered marginally to trade at 68.75 at the end of the day.

Consistent dollar demand from banks and importers, mainly oil refiners, following higher crude oil prices kept the rupee under pressure, PTI reported. The rupee closed at its lowest in nearly 19 months on Wednesday at 68.61 to a dollar.

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Global oil prices have climbed after the United States asked its allies, including India, to end all imports of crude oil from Iran by November 4. Washington is seeking to reimpose the sanctions against Tehran following its withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal. Concerns over supply disruptions in Libya and Canada also pushed prices higher.

In the financial markets, the BSE Sensex and the National Stock Exchange’s Nifty 50 declined for a second day on Thursday as escalating trade war concerns continued to pressure global stocks. The Sensex ended trade at 35,037.64 points – down 179.47 points from the previous day’s close – while the Nifty fell 82.30 points to close at 10,589.1 points.

Mahindra and Mahindra, Infosys and the National Thermal Power Corporation were the top gainers on both the indices. Bharti Airtel, Kotak and Infosys were the other major gainers on Sensex. On Nifty 50, stocks of Idea and Hindalco also saw their shares soar.

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ICICI Bank, Tata, Coal India, Reliance and the State Bank of India were the top losers on Sensex, while the stocks of Tech Maindra, HPCL, Titan, BPCL, and Tata performed poorly on Nifty 50.

Asian stocks slumped to nine-month lows on growing worries the US administration’s approach to trade is harming global economic growth, reported Mint.