Rupee plunges to one-month low against US dollar

Mumbai: The rupee dived 32 paise to touch a near one-month low of 73.89 against the US dollar on Thursday, following massive selloffs in equities and concerns over continuous surge in Covid-19 cases.

Besides, stronger dollar against key rivals currencies and robust outflows of foreign funds from domestic markets weighed on forex market sentiment. At the interbank forex market, the Indian currency opened on a weak note at 73.82 and traded in a range of 73.75 and 73.96 a dollar during the session. The rupee finally closed at 73.89, registering a fall of 32 paise - its lowest closing level since August 26.

The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, rose 0.04 per cent to 94.42. Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, fell 0.77 per cent to $41.45 per barrel. "Dollar continues to gain as concerns about rising Covid-19 cases inducing a slowdown in the global economic recovery weigh on stock markets and emerging currencies, in turn benefiting the oversold dollar," said Devarsh Vakil, Deputy Head Retail Research, HDFC Securities.