Mumbai, Sept 3: The rupee recovered 15 paise from its all-time low level to 88.00 against the US dollar in early trade on Wednesday as persistent foreign fund outflows and dollar strength weighed on investor sentiments.
Forex traders said the rupee is trading near an all-time low level, driven by risk-averse sentiments amid India-US trade deal uncertainty.
Moreover, a muted trend in domestic equities further dented investors’ sentiments.
At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened at 88.15 against the US dollar, then touched 88.00, registering a gain of 15 paise from its previous close.
On Tuesday, the rupee declined 5 paise to an all-time low of 88.15 against the US dollar.
The rupee opened slightly on the positive side, but dollar buying could push it back lower, said Anil Kumar Bhansali, Head of Treasury and Executive Director Finrex Treasury Advisors LLP.
“With the Competitive Commission having cleared the USD 1.6 billion of shares bought by SMBC bank, we can soon expect the inflows to hit the market to keep rupee steady but within the range of 87.80 to 88.30 with a watch on the RBI as to whether it keeps a tab on 88.30,” Bhansali said.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading at 98.48, higher by 0.09 per cent. Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading 0.27 per cent lower at USD 68.95 per barrel in futures trade.
On the domestic equity market front, Sensex declined 153.28 points to 80,004.60 in early trade, while the Nifty dipped 46.4 points to 24,533.20.
Foreign Institutional Investors offloaded equities worth Rs 1,159.48 crore on Tuesday, according to exchange data. (PTI)
