JOIN USRupee hits record low
The Indian rupee hit a record low of 68.86 against the greenback in intra-day trades on Thursday, surpassing its earlier all-time low of 68.85/$, before finally ending at 68.75/$.
The rupee had hit its previous low on August 28, 2013. According to reports, the Reserve Bank of India intervened to stem the fall of the rupee. The Indian currency has seen a fall of over 3.5% since Donald Trump won the US Presidential elections.
Indian equity markets have seen a significant decline since Trump’s victory due to a major bout of selling by foreign institutional investors.
According to analysts, the rupee could see a further downtrend till the first week of December. “It has been a broad-based selling across currencies except the British pound. It may continue till the first week of December. The further progress could very much depend on the outcome of the Italian referendum on December 4,” Kotak Securities Associate Vice President (Currency Derivatives) Anindya Banerjee said.
“We are seeing 70 as the peak levels for rupee as of now but in case the referendum is rejected by the Italians, it could go upto 71,” Banerjee added.
Sensex snaps
Meanwhile, Indian benchmark indices ended on a lower note, snapping their two-day winning streak, following volatility on account of rollover and continued demonetisation fears, and its impact on the economy. While the S&P BSE Sensex closed 191.64 points (0.74%) lower at 25,860.17, the Nifty 50 shed 67.80 points (0.84%) to close at 7,965.50.
Advances decline ratio on NSE was nearly equal. While 838 out of the total 1,676 securities advanced, 747 declined and 91 remained unchanged. A total of 12 securities hit a new 52-week high on NSE, while 26 securities hit new a 52-week low.
Tata Motors and its DVR were the top losers on Nifty 50 after the company announced that it will convene an extraordinary general meeting to remove Cyrus Mistry and Nusli Wadia as directors. Tata Motors closed down 4.19% at Rs 451.75 with volumes of over 80.46 lakh, while Tata Motors DVR ended down 3.66% at Rs 285.65. Other losers included Zee, Sun Pharma, Eicher Motors, Aurobindo Pharma, Axis Bank, and Adani Ports.