Rupee tumbles 9 paise to close at fresh record low of 85.20 against US dollar

The rupee extended the slide for the second straight session and depreciated 9 paise to settle at a fresh all-time low of 85.20 (provisional) against the US dollar on Tuesday, dragged by a strong greenback against major crosses overseas and subdued domestic equities.

According to analysts, increased demand of dollar due to month-end payment obligation and the fear of an aggressive import tariff by the Donald Trump administration in the US strengthened the greenback.

Besides, surging crude oil prices pushed the rupee down further, they added.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 85.10 and touched the lowest ever level of 85.21 against the greenback during intra-day. The unit finally ended the session at a fresh all-time low of 85.20 (provisional) against the dollar, registering a loss of 9 paise from its previous close.

On Monday, the rupee settled 7 paise lower at 85.11 against the US dollar.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading higher by 0.11% at 107.93, amid soaring US Treasury yields and the fear of delayed interest rate cuts by the US Federal Reserve.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, rose 0.69% to $73.13 per barrel in futures trade.

In the domestic equity market, the 30-share BSE Sensex closed lower by 67.30 points, or 0.09%, at 78,472.87 points, while Nifty fell 25.80 points, or 0.11% to close at 23,727.65 points.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the capital markets on Monday, as they offloaded shares worth ₹168.71 crore, according to exchange data.