The rupee on Tuesday fell by 46 paise to touch a record low of 78.83 against the US dollar amid persistent surge in crude oil prices, PTI reported.
According to Bloomberg, rupee’s intraday weak was 78.86, while PTI reported that currency fell as low as 78.85 against the dollar.
Brent crude oil cost $117.42 (or Rs 9,234.25) a barrel on Tuesday, an increase of 1.76% from Monday. Brent is a global price benchmark for crude oils from the Atlantic basin. It is used to set the price of two-thirds of the world’s trade of crude oil supply.
India imports nearly 85% of its oil. An increase in prices can push up inflation domestically, as well as widen the country’s trade and current account deficit.
The rupee is expected to trade on a negative note as elevated oil prices may also weigh on the domestic currency, according to Anuj Choudhary, research analyst at Sharekhan by BNP Paribas, PTI reported.
Meanwhile, equity markets closed with minimal gains on Tuesday.
The 30-share BSE Sensex increased by 16.17 points to end at 53,177.45 while the 50-share Nifty index settled at 15,850.20, up 18.15 points.
Mahindra & Mahindra, Reliance Industries, Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, Tech Mahindra, Tata Steel, HCL Technologies and Larsen & Toubro were the top gainers on both the indices.
Titan Company, Asian Paints, Bajaj Finserv, Kotak Mahindra Bank, ICICI Bank and Bajaj Finance performed poorly.
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