The rupee plunged by 52 paise to close at 74.87 against the US dollar on Monday as fresh lockdown measures by some states to control spiralling cases of Covid-19 unnerved investors and stoked fears of forex outflows.
Losses in the domestic equity markets also weighed on the rupee which was the worst performer among Asian currencies on Monday, analysts said. At the interbank forex market, the local unit opened lower at 74.80 against the greenback and touched a low of 75.05 in day trade. Weakness in the US dollar and losses in crude oil, however, capped the rupee’s fall and the local unit recovered some of the losses to close at 74.87, registering a fall of 52 paise over its previous close. On Friday, the rupee had settled at 74.35 a dollar. The dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, fell 0.49 per cent to 91.11.