Rupee Ends 45ps Lower At 86.71/$

Mumbai: The rupee extended its losing streak for the fourth straight session and settled 45paise lower at 86.71 against the US dollar on Wednesday, amid escalating tariff turbulence globally even as the Reserve Bank reduced key interest rate by 25 basis points as a growth-stimulus measure. Even though crude oil prices fell sharply to a record level and the American currency remained weak, the Indian currency stayed under pressure due to incessant outflow of foreign funds and lacklustre sentiment in the domestic equity markets, forex traders said. At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 86.52 and moved between a high of 86.47 and the low of 86.71 against the greenback during intraday, facing extreme volatility. The unit settled at 86.71 against the dollar, sharply lower by 45paise from the previous closing level.

On Tuesday, the Indian currency crashed 50paise to settle at 86.26 against the dollar. This was the steepest single-day decline for the rupee since January 13, when it lost 66paise. In the preceding two sessions on Monday and Friday, the rupee had lost 32 paise and 14 paise, respectively. In the last four trading sessions the rupee has lost 104 paise against the US dollar. Anuj Choudhary, Research Analyst at Mirae Asset Sharekhan, said the rupee declined amid dented global market sentiments owing to trade war between the US and China after US President Donald Trump imposed an additional 50 per cent tariff on China.