Rupee falls 5 paise to close at all-time low of 83.33 against US dollar

The rupee declined by 5 paise to settle at its all-time low of 83.33 against the US dollar on Monday, tracking a negative trend in domestic equities.

Persistent foreign fund outflows also weighed on the local unit, forex traders said.

At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local unit opened at 83.31 and settled at its lifetime low level of 83.33 against the dollar, registering a fall of 5 paise from its previous close.

On Friday, the rupee settled at 83.28 against the American currency.

Earlier, the currency's lowest closing level was recorded at 83.32 versus the dollar on September 18 this year.

"India's manufacturing and production data released Friday were short of forecasts," said Praveen Singh, Associate VP, Fundamental Currencies and Commodities, Sharekhan by BNP Paribas.

Singh further said that currency markets are range-bound ahead of crucial US CPI data to be released on Tuesday. "The USD-INR pair is still pretty range-bound. The pair is expected to trade between Rs 83 and Rs 83.70 with a slight positive bias," he noted.

Anil Kumar Bhansali, Head of Treasury and Executive Director, Finrex Treasury Advisors LLP, said: "RBI might have protected the rupee from further depreciation but the dollar buying continued and kept the rupee well offered for the entire day.

"With a holiday tomorrow at Mumbai centre also the rupee is expected to react to CPI numbers from the US expected at 3.3 per cent on Wednesday."

The forex market will be closed on Tuesday on account of Diwali Balipratipada.

He said the country's trade data is expected to be released on Wednesday and it could show the deficit a tad higher than last month.

"Rupee is expected to be in a narrow range of 83.40 to 83.40 on Wednesday as the market tracks the dollar index and US yields closely," Bhansali added.

The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.08 per cent lower at 105.77.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, rose 0.02 per cent to USD 81.45 per barrel.

On the domestic equity market front, Sensex fell 325.58 points or 0.50 per cent to settle at 64,933.87 points. The Nifty declined 82.00 points or 0.42 per cent to 19,443.55 points.

Foreign institutional investors were net sellers in the capital market on Monday as they offloaded shares worth Rs 1,244.44 crore, according to exchange data.

India's retail inflation slipped to a four-month low of 4.87 per cent in October, mainly due to easing food prices and inched towards the Reserve Bank's target of 4 per cent, according to government data released on Monday.

The country's forex reserves jumped by USD 4.672 billion to USD 590.783 for the week ended November 3, the Reserve Bank said on Friday.

Foreign currency assets, a crucial part of the reserves, rose by USD 4.392 billion, as per the central bank.