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Mumbai: The Indian rupee on Wednesday tanked by a massive 106 paise to close at all-time low of 60.72 against dollar on heavy capital outflows and month-end dollar demand from importers, even as RBI intervened to stem the currency slide.
The rupee resumed lower at 59.74 a dollar from overnight close of 59.66 at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market and immediately touched a high of 59.72.
As dollar demand surged, rupee continued to reel under pressure and touched an all-time intra-trade low of 60.76 and finally ended at 60.72, a steep fall of 106 paise or 1.78 per cent. On June 10, 2013, it had tumbled by 109 paise (1.91 pc).
FIIs pulled out nearly Rs 550 crore from stocks on Wednesday, taking the June outflows to about Rs 9,000 crore.
In debt segment, they have pulled out Rs 27,850.20 crore till June 25.
"RBI was seen (intervening) at 59.90 level during early trade and the rupee was trading in 5-10 paisa range. But, the moment, rupee touched 60, stop-loss was triggered, which led to sharp fall of the rupee," said Hemal Doshi, Chief Currency Strategist, Geojit Comtrade.
Unless measures are announced by the government and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), rupee may see 62-62.50 level in the near-term, he added.
Dollar index of six major global rivals was up by 0.24 per cent supported by data underscoring US Fed's view of an improving economy and a likely slowdown in monetary stimulus.
Pramit Brahmbhatt, CEO, Alpari Financial Services (India) said: "Rupee had a free fall today...Dollar index traded strong against other major rivals and traded at 3-week high.
Trading range for spot rupee is expected to be 60.30 61.10."
The over 7 per cent slump in rupee in June has triggered fresh set of worries. "A weaker INR can add to inflationary pressure, widen fiscal deficit and slow capital inflows, without having a positive effect on CAD. Rapid depreciation also affects business sentiment negatively," said Standard Chartered in a report.
Meanwhile, the Indian benchmark S&P BSE Sensex on Wednesday dropped by over 77 points.
