Rupee Stays Unchanged At 84.07/$

Mumbai: The rupee stayed stuck at its near-record low of 84.07 against the US dollar on Thursday as surging crude oil prices and persistent foreign fund outflow weighed on the local unit. Analysts said the selling rush by foreign investors in pursuit of better gains from the Chinese market has been preventing the rupee’s recovery, while higher US treasury yields have triggered the fear of slower interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve. Also, uncertain geopolitical scenario ahead of the US presidential election steered investors towards safe-haven bets, they added. At the interbank foreign exchange market, the domestic unit opened at 84.06 against the greenback and remained almost standstill throughout the session. The unit finally settled at the previous session’s closing level of 84.07 against the dollar. On Wednesday, the rupee had settled with a marginal gain of 1paisa at 84.07 against the US dollar. The local currency has been struggling to recover since October 11, when it closed at its lowest level of 84.10 against the dollar. Anuj Choudhary, Research Analyst at Sharekhan by BNP Paribas, said the rupee traded on a flat note amid weak domestic markets and overnight gains in crude oil prices.