Rupee Plummets 38ps To 87.33/$

Mumbai: The rupee depreciated by 38paise, its steepest fall in over a month, to close at 87.33 against the US dollar on Monday due to volatile crude oil prices amid tariff uncertainties worldwide and unabated outflow of foreign funds. A weaker American currency failed to support the local unit as a sell-off in the domestic equity market hit the sentiment adversely, forex traders said. At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened weak at 87.24 and touched the day’s low of 87.36 amid intense volatility. The unit touched an intraday high of 87.16 before ending the session at 87.33 against the greenback, registering a loss of 38paise from its previous closing level. Earlier, the domestic currency had recorded a steep single-day loss of 39paise against the dollar on February 5. On Friday, the rupee appreciated 17paise to close at 86.95 against the US dollar. Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading lower by 0.15 per cent at 103.65. The latest RBI data released on Friday showed the country’s forex reserves dropped by $1.781 billion to $638.698 billion in the week ended February 28. The overall forex kitty had jumped by $4.758 billion to $640.479 billion in the previous reporting week. On the global macroeconomic froth, the US Labour Department data on Friday showed increased hiring activity in February though the unemployment rate rose slightly to 4.1 per cent.