The rupee on Wednesday declined 13 paise to close below the 80-mark for the first time against the United States dollar, PTI reported.
At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee had opened at 79.91 against the dollar. It settled at 80.05 by the end of the day.
On Tuesday, the rupee closed at 79.92 against the dollar after touching an all-time low of 80.05 during the early trade. On Monday, the currency touched the 80-mark briefly against the dollar.
Forex traders said a significant demand for dollars from oil importers, firm crude oil prices, and concerns about swelling trade deficit have been weighing on the investors’ sentiment.
“Overall gains in crude in the last few days where Brent [crude oil] has risen again above $105 [Rs 8,399.74] and lack of intervention from RBI has kept the rupee hovering around 80.00,” Jateen Trivedi, Vice President, Research Analyst at LKP Securities said, according to PTI. “Going ahead rupee will be seen in the range of 79.75-80.25.”
Brent crude on Wednesday fell 39 cents or 0.5% to $106.96 (Rs 8,399.74) a barrel, according to Business Today. 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.
On Monday, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that the value of the rupee has depreciated by 25% against the dollar since December 2014.
She attributed the rupee’s sharp fall to the rise in crude oil prices and the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Sitharaman, however, also said that the rupee has strengthened in comparison to other major global currencies.
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