On Monday, the rupee crossed the level of 94 for the first time. The Indian currency fell 50 paise to close at a new record low of 94.03 (temporary) against the dollar. The reason for this was the rising prices of crude oil in the international market and the continuous outflow of foreign funds, due to which investors became nervous. Forex traders said that the strengthening of the dollar and the huge fall in domestic stock markets also further weakened the local currency. Let us also tell you what kind of data has been seen regarding the rupee in the currency market.
At the Interbank Foreign Exchange, the local currency opened at 93.84 and continued to weaken throughout the day. Ultimately, it crossed the 94 mark against the dollar for the first time and closed at 94.03 (provisional), which was 50 paise lower than its previous close. On Friday, the rupee fell by 64 paise and closed at 93.53, after which it crossed the 93 mark against the dollar. The special thing is that ever since the Iran War started, the rupee has seen a decline of more than 3.25 percent against the dollar. Since then till now the rupee has seen a decline of about Rs 1 against the dollar. On February 28, the rupee was at the level of 91.08 against the dollar.
Anuj Chaudhary, Research Analyst, Mirae Asset Sharekhan, said that on Friday, amid rising geopolitical tensions in West Asia and weak domestic markets, the rupee reached its lowest ever level and crossed the 94 mark for the first time. The rise in crude oil prices and outflow of FIIs also put pressure on the rupee. He said that we expect the rupee to trade with a negative trend, because the deteriorating global environment and geopolitical tensions may keep pressure on the rupee. However, periodic intervention by the Reserve Bank may support the rupee at lower levels. He further said that USD-INR spot price is expected to trade in the range of Rs 93.60-94.40.
The dollar index, which measures the dollar's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.14 percent higher at 99.78. Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading 1.11 percent lower at $113.4 per barrel in futures trade. In the domestic stock market, Sensex fell 1,836.57 points or 2.46 per cent to 72,696.39, while Nifty fell 484.30 points or 2.10 per cent to 22,630.20. According to exchange data, foreign institutional investors sold shares worth Rs 5,518.39 crore on a net basis on Friday. Meanwhile, RBI said on Friday that India's foreign exchange reserves declined by $ 7.052 billion to $ 709.759 billion during the week ending March 13.
