Mumbai, March 20 The rupee plunged by 60 paise to a fresh intra-day low of 93.49 against the US dollar on Friday as the greenback further strengthened and net outflows from Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) continued, amid the ongoing conflict in West Asia.
Rising global crude oil prices put further pressure on the local currency, forex traders said, adding that even positive sentiments in the domestic equity markets could not prevent the decline.
The suggestion that global crude oil prices may reach USD 180/barrel also weighed on sentiment.
At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local currency opened at 92.92 against the greenback and soon breached the 93-mark for the first time. The local currency continued to weaken and traded at 93.49, down 60 paise from its previous close.
The rupee had slumped by 49 paise to close at its previous record low of 92.89 against the US dollar on Wednesday. Forex markets were closed on Thursday due to Gudhi Padwa.
The dollar index, which measures the strength of the greenback against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.17 per cent higher at 99.40.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading 0.79 per cent lower at USD 107.8 per barrel in futures trade.
On the domestic equity market front, the Sensex rebounded from Thursday's crash, and was up 442.88 points, or 0.60 per cent, at 74,650.12, while the Nifty surged 146.65 points, or 0.64 per cent, to 23,148.80.
Foreign institutional investors sold equities worth Rs 7,558.19 crore on a net basis on Thursday, according to exchange data.