Rupee slips 16 paise to record low of 76.44 against US dollar

The rupee on Wednesday pared its initial gains and closed 16 paise down at a record low of 76.44 against the American currency following weakness in the domestic equity market amid strengthening of dollar in the international market.

Sugandha Sachdeva, VP-Metals, Energy & Currency Research, Religare Broking said, “The coronavirus pandemic is keeping investors on the edge and that is likely to steer the domestic currency on an unhindered path towards 77.50-mark in coming days.”

The benchmark equity indices BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty were down over 1 per cent in the afternoon trade due to concerns over the impact of coronavirus outbreak on the domestic and global economy.


“Market is weighing on the impact of lockdown on GDP,” Nilesh Shah, MD, Kotak AMC told ETNow.

During the day, the local unit hit an intraday high 75.99 and a low of 76.48 against the American currency. Rupee settled at 76.27 against dollar on Monday.

The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was up 0.46 per cent at 99.35.