The Indian rupee continued to depreciate on Wednesday, falling to an all-time low of 71.75 against the United States dollar, declining 17 paise from Tuesday’s close. The currency had closed at record lows on both Monday and Tuesday.
The rupee touched a record low of 71.93 against the US dollar on Wednesday before recovering in the late afternoon, but still finished at an all-time low.
Experts told Moneycontrol that the fall in the currency’s value was a result of the crisis in emerging market currencies. “Further consistent rise in crude oil prices and dollar index has kept sentiments bearish,” said Rushabh Maru, a research analyst at Anand Rathi Shares and Stock Brokers. “There are talks of rupee moving towards 72-73 levels hence there is lot of speculative dollar buying in the market which is driving the currency lower every day.”
The BSE Sensex fell for the sixth straight session on Wednesday, closing at 38,018.31, down 139.61 points. The National Stock Exchange Nifty 50 index fell 43.35 points, to 11,476.95.
Yes Bank, Vedanta and Wipro were among the top gainers on both the indices. Shares of Hindustan Unilever, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Bharti Airtel, Reliance, and Hero MotoCorp declined the most on Sensex. On the Nifty 50, Bharti Infratel, Zee Entertainment Enterprise, Hindustan Unilever, Titan, and Kotak Mahindra Bank lost the most.
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