The rupee opened at 84.41 on Thursday and touched an intra-day low of 84.51 against the US dollar.
The rupee settled at an all-time low of 84.50 (tentative) on Thursday due to a massive sell-off in domestic equity markets and a rise in crude oil prices amid volatile geopolitical conditions.
According to forex traders, the safe-haven appeal has strengthened the American currency amid rising tensions between Russia and Ukraine, while continued outflows of foreign funds have also pressured the local unit.
At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 84.41 and touched an intra-day low of 84.51 against the greenback. The unit ended the session at 84.50 (provisional) against the dollar, surpassing the previous all-time low close of 84.46 recorded on 14 November.
The rupee settled at 84.42 against the US dollar on Tuesday.
The foreign exchange market remained closed on Wednesday due to the assembly elections in Maharashtra.
Jatin Trivedi, VP Research Analyst – Commodity & Currency, LKP Securities, said rising pressure on the rupee weakened as the dollar rose above 106.65 amid fresh global uncertainties along with global risk aversion along with geopolitical tensions between Russia and Ukraine.
At the same time, a sell-off in domestic equity markets accelerated after the Adani group faced bribery and fraud allegations in the US. “This has further fueled FII outflows, continuing the trend of capital flight from Indian markets,” Trivedi said.
The rupee is expected to remain in a trading range between 84.35 and 84.65, with continued weakness likely in the near term, Trivedi added.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading up 0.04 percent at 106.66.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, rose 1.35 percent to USD 73.93 a barrel in futures trade.
In the domestic equity market, the BSE Sensex closed down 422.59 points, or 0.54 percent, at 77,155.79 points, while the Nifty settled down 168.60 points, or 0.72 percent, at 23,349 points.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the capital market on Tuesday, as they bought Rs. 3,411.73 crore worth of shares were sold, according to exchange data.