Tracking a strong greenback against major rivals overseas and unabated foreign capital outflows, Indian rupee declined 9 paise to close at an all-time low of 83.33 (provisional) against the US dollar on Wednesday, the PTI reported. A negative sentiment in domestic stock market and surging crude oil prices amid geopolitical tensions weighed on investor sentiments, forex traders said.
According to the report, at the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 83.26 against the dollar. During intraday trading, it touched an intraday low of 83.35 and a high of 83.26 against the US currency. The ruppe finally ended at its lifetime low of 83.33 (provisional), lower by 9 paise against its previous close. On Tuesday, the Indian unit closed at 83.24 against US dollar.
"We expect the rupee to trade with a slight negative bias on the strong Dollar amid geopolitical uncertainty in the Middle East. Weak tone in domestic markets may also weigh on the rupee. Traders may take cues from manufacturing PMI from India and ADP non-farm employment, JOLTS job opening and ISM manufacturing PMI data from the US. Investors may remain cautious ahead of the FOMC meeting tonight. USD/INR spot price is expected to trade in a range of Rs 83-83.60," said Anuj Choudhary, research analyst, Sharekhan by BNP Paribas.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.20 per cent higher at 106.87. Forex traders said disappointing macroeconomic data from India and FII outflows further pressurised the rupee.
Global oil benchmark Brent crude futures advanced 1.34 per cent to $86.16 per barrel. Foreign institutional investors were net sellers in the capital market on Tuesday as they offloaded shares worth Rs 696.02 crore, according to exchange data.
On the domestic macroeconomic data, the seasonally adjusted S&P Global India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) slipped from 57.5 in September to 55.5 in October, the slowest rate of expansion since February.