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Rupee slumped 69 paise to an all-time low of 92.18 against the US dollar in early trade on Wednesday, as a sharp spike in crude oil prices amid geopolitical tensions following the escalation of the US-Iran conflict weighed on investor sentiment.
Forex traders said the domestic currency is under severe pressure due to a sharp spike in crude oil prices, with Brent Crude crossing the $82 per barrel level in futures trade in the wake of the Iran crisis, which dented investor sentiments.
At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened at 92.05, then fell to an early low of 92.18 against the American currency, registering a fall of 69 paise from its previous close.
On Monday, the rupee had settled at 91.49 against the US dollar.
Equity investors became poorer by Rs 16.32 lakh crore in the two-day fall in the stock market after the conflict involving the US, Israel and Iran escalated significantly.
On Wednesday, the 30-share BSE Sensex tumbled 1,122.66 points or 1.40 per cent to settle at 79,116.19. During the day, it crashed 1,795.65 points or 2.23 per cent to 78,443.20. Since Friday, the BSE benchmark has lost 2,171 points or 2.67 per cent amid the onset of hostilities between Iran and the US-Israel since February 28.
The market capitalisation of BSE-listed companies eroded by Rs 16,32,428.12 crore to Rs 4,47,18,243.15 crore (USD 4.85 trillion) since Friday last week.
Equity markets were closed on Tuesday for Holi.
“Markets traded with a negative bias on Wednesday, extending their recent corrective trend amid weak global cues and persistent geopolitical concerns. Investor sentiment remained fragile amid weak global signals, elevated crude oil prices and lingering uncertainty around geopolitical developments. Continued foreign institutional selling and currency volatility further dampened confidence,” Ajit Mishra, SVP Research, Religare Broking, said.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, jumped 1.63 per cent to USD 82.73 per barrel.
