Rupee Settles Flat At 87.50/$

Mumbai: The rupee on Monday plunged 45paise and moved closer to the 88 per US dollar-level, weighed down by the strength of the American currency tariff concerns, but settled on a flat note at 87.50 on suspected RBI intervention. The American currency gained in the overseas market after US President Donald Trump’s plans to impose 25 per cent tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, along with reciprocal tariffs targeting countries taxing US exports. The move has added jitters over the global trade war with China’s reciprocal duties coming into effect, they said. At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 87.94 and touched an all-time intraday low of 87.95 against the American currency during the session.

The local unit, however, pared the initial losses and finally settled on a flat note at 87.50, unchanged over its previous close. On Friday, the rupee recovered 9paise from its all-time low level to close at 87.50 against the US dollar. The rupee touched an all-time low closing level of 87.59 against the greenback on February 6. Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.14 per cent higher at 108.18. “The Indian rupee touched fresh record lows in early trades on weak domestic markets and a strong US dollar index. However, the rupee recovered early losses on supposed intervention by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI),” said Anuj Choudhary -- Research Analyst at Mirae Asset Sharekhan.