The rupee closed at a new low of 78.13 against the US dollar on Monday, PTI reported. The currency had slipped to an all-time low of 78.29 in the morning but recovered some of the losses by the end of trading.
The previous low of 77.93 was on June 10.
“Weak global sentiments and weak Asian and European currencies have allowed the rupee to open below 78 after the RBI [Reserve Bank of India] ensured it did not cross 77.70,” said Anil Kumar Bhansali of Finrex Treasury Advisors. “Have to watch the RBI as to how it behaves in the next few days.”
Meanwhile, equity markets faced heavy losses as well with both Sensex and Nifty plunging more than 2.6% on Monday.
The 30-share BSE Sensex lost 1,456.74 points to close at 52,846.70. The broader 50-share NSE Nifty finished at 15,774.40, losing 427.40 points from the previous closing mark.
Analysts said that the equity markets are concerned about a further rise in retail inflation, which had already hit an eight-year high in April. The retail inflation numbers for May are slated to be out later on Monday evening.
“Nifty opened gap down as equity markets across the globe are witnessing a sell-off after US May inflation data accelerated to four decades high, which raised concerns about aggressive rate hikes by US Fed in the upcoming monetary policy meeting on Wednesday,” Hemang Jani, head equity strategy, Motilal Oswal Financial Services told PTI.
In Monday’s equity trading, all the sectors faced losses with the Nifty IT and Nifty Media sub-indices tanking by nearly 4% each. Among stocks of prominent companies, Bajaj Finance, IndusInd Bank, Tech Mahindra, ICICI Bank and Tata Consultancy Services were among the top losers.
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