The Indian rupee weakened for the ninth straight session on Wednesday, falling 16 paise to close at a fresh all-time low of 96.86 against the US dollar amid rising crude oil prices and growing inflation concerns linked to the ongoing West Asia crisis.
At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened at 96.89 against the dollar and slipped further to touch an intraday record low of 96.95. It later recovered partially to hit a high of 96.65 before settling at 96.86.
In the previous trading session, the rupee had plunged 50 paise to close at 96.70 against the greenback.
The rupee’s continued slide has become a major concern for policymakers and investors, with the currency emerging as one of the weakest-performing emerging market currencies this year. Analysts point to a combination of expensive crude oil, foreign capital outflows, widening trade deficits and a strengthening dollar as key reasons behind the decline.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which measures the US currency against a basket of six major currencies, was trading 0.09 per cent higher at 99.42.
Global oil benchmark Brent crude was trading at USD 109.95 per barrel despite easing 2.77 per cent in futures trade.
On the domestic equity front, benchmark indices ended higher, with the Sensex gaining 117.54 points to close at 75,318.39, while the Nifty rose 41 points to settle at 23,659.
According to exchange data, Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) remained net sellers, offloading equities worth Rs 1,597.35 crore on Wednesday.
