Rupee cracks 38 paise—logs steepest single-day drop in a month

The rupee recorded its sharpest fall in over a month, depreciating 38 paise to 87.33 (provisional) against the US dollar on Monday as rising crude oil prices and sustained foreign fund outflows weighed on investor sentiment.Despite a weaker dollar globally, the local currency struggled to hold ground as a sell-off in the domestic equity market exerted further pressure, forex traders said.
At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened on a weaker note at 87.24, slipped to a low of 87.36, and touched an intraday high of 87.16 before settling at 87.33, down from 86.95 on Friday.
This marked the steepest single-day fall since 5 February, when the rupee had slumped 39 paise against the dollar.
The decline came amid a weak trend in the equity markets, where the Sensex dropped 217.41 points, or 0.29%, to 74,115.17, while the Nifty fell 92.20 points, or 0.41%, to 22,460.30. On the global front, Brent crude prices rose 0.28% to $70.56 per barrel, further dampening sentiment.Also read: Gold falls ₹150 to ₹88,750 per 10g, silver declines ₹250

Meanwhile, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth ₹2,035.10 crore on Friday, adding to the downward pressure on the rupee.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) reported that the country’s foreign exchange reserves fell by $1.78 billion to $638.69 billion for the week ending February 28. This comes after an increase of $4.75 billion in the previous week.

The broader global outlook remains uncertain, with the latest US Labour Department data showing a rise in hiring activity in February, though unemployment in the US edged up to 4.1%. Additionally, concerns over trade tensions have resurfaced, with President Donald threatening new tariffs and making changes to the federal workforce.

(With PTI inputs)