The rupee plunged by 42 paise to settle at a one-and-a-half-month low of 71.80 against the US currency on Friday due to a spike in crude oil prices after US President Donald Trump ordered the killing of a top Iranian general.
General Soleimani, the head of Iran’s elite al-Quds force and architect of its regional security apparatus, was killed following a US airstrike at Baghdad’s international airport on Friday.
The strike also killed the deputy chief of Iraq’s powerful Hashed al-Shaabi paramilitary force.
The Pentagon confirmed the death of Soleimani, 62, in Iraq, saying the strike was carried out at the direction of Trump.
Brent crude surged 4.5 per cent to $69.23 per barrel and WTI rose 4.1 per cent to $63.71 per barrel after worries over an escalation in tensions.