Rupee records steepest single-day fall in over 3 months; breaches 89/USD-level

The rupee saw the steepest single-day fall in over three months and breached 89 per US dollar-mark for the first time, trading 78 paise lower at 89.46 against the greenback during the intra-day session on Friday, amid negative cues from domestic as well as global equity markets.

At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened at 88.67 and plunged 82 paise to hit its lowest-ever intra-day level of 89.50 before trading at 89.40 against the American currency.

On Thursday, the rupee depreciated 20 paise to close at 88.68 against the US dollar.

The unit had hit its previous all-time intra-day low of 88.85 on September 30. The previous lowest closing level was registered at 88.81 against the US dollar on October 14.

Earlier, the Indian currency had witnessed the sharpest single-day fall on July 30 when it lost 89 paise.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was up by 0.04% at 100.05.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading 1.21% lower at USD 62.64 per barrel in futures trade.

On the domestic equity market front, the SENSEX was trading 360.40 points, or 0.42%, down at 85,272.28, while the NIFTY was 111.05 points, or 0.41%, lower at 26,081.10.

Foreign institutional investors bought equities worth ₹283.65 crore on a net basis on Thursday, according to exchange data.

The government data released on Thursday showed the pace of growth in the country's eight key infrastructure sectors stayed flat year-on-year in October as expansion in output of petroleum refinery products, fertiliser and steel was offset by a contraction in coal and electricity production.

The eight core industries of coal, crude oil, natural gas, petroleum refinery products, electricity, fertiliser, and steel had expanded by 3.3% in September and by 3.8% in October 2024.