Continuous outflow of dollar dragged down the rupee on Monday by 41 paise to close at new life-time low of 59.68, amid speculation that the RBI stepped in to check the currency slide as it approched nearly 60-mark.
At the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market, the domestic unit commenced lower at 59.55 a dollar as against last weekend’s close of 59.27. It continued its downslide to a low of 59.83, before recovering some ground to settle at 59.68 -- still showing a fall of 41 paise or 0.69 per cent. The rupee’s previous all-time closing low was 59.57 on June 20.FIIs pulled out over $250 million (Rs 1,552.98 crore) from stocks today, provisional data from the bourses showed.
“Rupee closed weak taking cues from strong dollar and weak equities in India. Strong month end dollar demand from oil importers also weighed which pushed rupee again past 60.00 (futures) levels intra-day,” said Pramit Brahmbhatt, CEO, Alpari Financial Services (India). With the the rupee coming near its alltime (intra-day) low of 59.97/98 levels, “PSU banks were seen selling dollars at the behest of the RBI helping the rupee to some extent”, said forex head of a leading private bank.