Rupee sinks below 71 for 1st time in 5 months

The Indian rupee continued its depreciation against US dollar as foreign investors continued to exit from the Indian markets, with domestic currency sinking below 71-mark for the first time in past five months.

At the interbank forex market, the rupee opened the day’s trade at 71.14 against the greenback in the early morning trade down 36 paise against the greenback. The rupee further depreciated to 71.16 in the first hour of the trade.

At the time of filing this copy, the rupee was trading at 71.10, down 32 paise against dollar.

The rupee declined by 9 paise to close at 70.78 against the dollar on August 9 as market participants were cautious ahead of a meeting between foreign investors and finance ministry officials regarding the higher tax surcharge.

The forex traders suggested that the decline in the rupee was because of FIIs continuing to sell from Indian markets. Till now, FIIs, in this month have sold Rs 8,000 crore from the Indian debt and equity markets.

The last time rupee traded so low, was on March 3, 2019 – when it closed at 71 against US dollar.