Mumbai, March 9 The rupee crashed to its all-time closing low of 92.35 (provisional) against the US dollar on Monday, losing 53 paise during the session, as global crude oil prices saw a sharp spike, and the US dollar strengthened amid the worsening conflict in the Middle East.
The withdrawal of foreign funds amid intense selling in domestic equity markets further put pressure on the rupee, forex traders said.
At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 92.22 and briefly rose to 92.15, but continued to decline throughout the session before eventually settling at its all-time low of 92.35 (provisional), down 53 paise from its previous close.
The rupee depreciated by 18 paise against the US dollar on Friday, closing at 91.82 against the American currency.
"The rupee opened sharply lower, hitting a fresh record low of 92.35 due to weak global markets and a surge in crude oil prices overnight. Oil prices rose by around 25 per cent during the Asian session. A strong dollar and outflows from foreign investors also put pressure on the rupee," said Anuj Choudhary, Research Analyst, Mirae Asset ShareKhan.
"We expect the rupee to trade with a negative bias due to weak global market sentiments and a strong dollar amid geopolitical tensions in the Middle East. However, any intervention by the central bank could support the rupee at lower levels," he added, noting that the USD-INR spot price is expected to trade in the range of 92-92.80.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading higher by 15.18 per cent at USD 106.8 per barrel in futures trade as the war between the US and Israel, and Iran intensified.
The dollar index, which gauges the strength of the US dollar against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.35 per cent higher at 99.33.
On the domestic equity market front, the Sensex plunged by 1,352.74 points to close at 77,566.16, while the Nifty tumbled by 422.40 points to 24,028.05.
Foreign institutional investors sold equities worth Rs 6,030.38 crore on a net basis on Friday, according to exchange data.
Meanwhile, India's forex reserves jumped by USD 4.885 billion to an all-time high of USD 728.494 billion during the week ended February 27, the Reserve Bank said on Friday.
