Mumbai, Jan 23: The rupee hit an all-time low of 92 on Friday and recovered marginally to settle at 91.88 (provisional) against the American currency, amid selling pressure from foreign funds and risk-off sentiment in global markets.
Forex traders said the Indian rupee gave up early gains and hit a record low of 91.99 per US dollar in intraday trade due to weak domestic markets and persistent foreign fund outflows. Moreover, gains in crude oil prices and a surge in US treasury yields weighed on the rupee.
At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 91.45 and then gained ground to touch an intraday high of 91.41 against the greenback. It touched an all-time intraday low of 92.00 before settling for the day at a record closing low of 91.88 (provisional), down 30 paise from its previous closing level.
On Thursday, the rupee rebounded from its all-time low levels and ended with a gain of 7 paise at 91.58 against the US dollar.
The previous all-time low was recorded on January 21, when the rupee plunged 68 paise to close at 91.65 against the American currency.
The rupee has slumped by 200 paise, or over 2 per cent, so far this month. In 2025, the domestic unit had plunged 5 per cent on unabated foreign fund outflows and dollar strength.
“We expect the rupee to trade with a negative bias due to selling pressure from FIIs and risk-off sentiments in the global markets. Dollar demand from hedgers and imports may further pressurise the rupee,” said Anuj Choudhary, Research Analyst, Mirae Asset ShareKhan.
However, a weak dollar and any intervention by the RBI may support the rupee at lower levels. USD-INR spot price is expected to trade in a range of 91.60 to 92.30, Choudhary added.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.01 per cent higher at 98.36.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading 1.03 per cent higher at USD 64.72 per barrel in futures trade.
On the domestic equity market front, Sensex tanked 769.67 points to settle at 81,537.70, while the Nifty dived 241.25 points to 25,048.65.
Foreign institutional investors offloaded equities worth Rs 2,549.80 crore on Thursday, according to exchange data. (PTI)
