Rupee ends at fresh 29-month low of 68.30 Vs USD

Mumbai: The rupee on Thursday plummeted by 45 paise to end at an over 29-month low of 68.30 a dollar on fresh demand for the US currency from banks and importers in view of sharp fall in equities amid foreign capital outflows.

The market benchmark Sensex today crashed 807 points to drop below 23,000-mark, its lowest level in 21 months, on concerns over global economy and mounting bad loans as also weak quarterly earnings of state-run banks.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 751.33 crore yesterday, as per provisional data released by the stock exchanges.

The domestic unit resumed lower at 67.95 per dollar as against Wednesday's closing level of 67.85 at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market and fell further to 68.3450 before finishing at more than 29-month low at 68.30, showing a loss of 45 paise or 0.66 percent.

The rupee had slumped to its all-time closing low of 68.80 a dollar on August 28, 2013 after touching the record intra-day low of 68.85 the same day.

The domestic unit moved in a range of 67.90 and 68.34 per dollar during the day.

The dollar index was down by 0.30 percent against a basket of six currencies in the late Asian trade.

Overseas, the dollar hit a 15-month low against the yen today after comments from Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen indicated that next rate hike is still some time away.

Meanwhile, the benchmark Sensex ended lower by 807.07 points or 3.40 percent today.

Pramit Brahmbhatt of Veracity Financial Services said, "As expected rupee opened on a negative note and since opening trades we saw rupee depreciating. We saw loss in rupee extending as rupee breached lower level of 68. The fall in rupee was mainly on back of global as well as domestic equity market 'SELL-OFF'.

"Our benchmark index NIFTY lost nearly 240 points for the day. Trading range for spot USD/INR pair is expected to be within 67.8 to 68.7 levels."