Rupee hits all-time low of 86.3537 as US dollar rallies, crude surges

At 10:07 am IST, the rupee fell to 86.3537 per dollar, according to figures cited in a Bloomberg report. This was a fall of 38 paise in value from the previous close.

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On last Friday, the rupee had declined 18 paise to settle at 86.04 against the US dollar.

Meanwhile, the dollar index went up 0.22% to its over two-year-high of 109.72, with 10-year US bond yields also remaining high at 4.76%.

Apart from the strong dollar, other factors such as a record surge in crude oil prices, continued outflow of foreign capital, as well as a negative trend in domestic stocks have also pressured the rupee, according to a PTI report which cited forex traders.

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Brent Crude was up by 1.55%, reaching $81.00 per barrel, while WTI was up 1.76%, reaching $77.92 per barrel and Natural Gas (Nymex) rose 5.99%, reaching $4.23 per Metric Million British Thermal Units (MMBtu), according to Bloomberg data. All of this is for February 2025 contracts.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) also offloaded ₹2,254.68 crore in Indian stocks on Friday, according to exchange data.

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Apart from all this, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday said the country’s forex reserves dropped by USD 5.693 billion to USD 634.585 billion in the week ended January 3.

All of this also took a toll on the Indian stock market, with the the benchmark BSE Sensex tumbling by 677.22 points or 0.88%, reaching 76,701.69 after opening, while the broader NSE Nifty was down by 212.90 points or 0.91%, reaching 23,218.60.