Rupee tumbles 82 paise to breach 66-level against dollar

MUMBAI: The Indian rupee on Monday hit a fresh two-year low mirroring weakness in other emerging market currencies versus the US dollar as global investors pressed the panic button on falling commodity prices and tumbling Chinese markets. The local unit lost 82 paise, or about 1.25%, to the greenback closing at 66.65 per dollar compared with 65.83 last Friday.

“The latest rupee fall is nothing unexpected as the local unit is still overvalued in terms of REER,” said Keta Kurkute, AVP - forex advisory, Mecklai Financial.

"The Reserve Bank was seen intervening to curb volatility but not to change any direction.” The central bank was suspected to have sold dollars heavily at 66.50 level, but latter the pace came down as it was not protecting any level, said three dealers adding that RBI may have sold close to $500 million. The rupee had weakened to a record low at 68.86 in August two years ago. In terms of REER, the rupee is still overvalued by 8-10%.