Mumbai, March 27 The rupee breached the 94.50-mark for the first time against the US dollar during intra-day trading on Friday, hitting a record low of 94.56, due to high oil prices and a stronger dollar, amid no breakthrough in the West Asia conflict.
A sharp decline in domestic equity markets and sustained outflows from foreign investors further put pressure on the local currency, according to forex traders.
At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened at 94.18 and continued to fall, hitting 94.56 against the US dollar during intra-day trading, down 60 paise from its previous close.
The rupee slumped 20 paise to close at a record low of 93.96 against the US dollar on Wednesday. Stock, forex, commodity, and bullion markets were closed on Thursday due to Ram Navami.
"With consistent buying from oil companies, the rupee breached 94.50, while exporters continued to bring in funds, and importers bought dollars to pay their dues," said Anil Kumar Bhansali, Head of Treasury and Executive Director, Finrex Treasury Advisors LLP.
The dollar index, which gauges the strength of the dollar against a basket of six currencies, was trading at 99.67, up 0.08 per cent.
Brent crude, the global benchmark for oil, rose sharply overnight before easing slightly to USD 107.4 per barrel, down 0.53 per cent, in futures trading.
On the domestic equity market front, the Sensex was trading 1,212.15 points, or 1.61 per cent, down at 74,061.30, while the Nifty fell by 355.20 points, or 1.52 per cent, to 22,951.25.
Foreign institutional investors sold equities worth Rs 1,805.37 crore on a net basis on Wednesday, according to exchange data.