Rupee Hits Record low below 68.70 per Dollar

NEW DELHI: The Reserve Bank is said to have intervened in the domestic currency when the rupee hit 68.70 against the US dollar, agency reports say. Indian rupee slipped for third consecutive day in a row on Wednesday to hit its fresh record low of 68.70 against the US dollar, as uncertainty over a possible US-led military strike against Syria knocked down Asian equity markets and currencies. The currency has plunged a little over 13 per cent so far in the month of August alone to mark its worst monthly fall since the year 1993. The partially convertible has plunged over 19 per cent so far in the year 2013, and is set for worst loss since 1991. 

The rupee on Tuesday closed at a fresh all-time low of 66.24 against the US dollar, while gold hit an all-time high of Rs 33,700 per ten grams in the national capital on Tuesday. Passage of Food Security Bill is one big overhang on markets and rupee, as most analysts feel that it will have negative impact on fiscal deficit number. "Fall in rupee is more not a country specific issue. Clearly, emerging markets across have been reeling under the kind of currency pressure with the dollar strengthening. So that is going to definitely continue," said Arindam Ghosh, CEO, BlackRidge Capital Advisorsin an interview .

 "The bigger scare is that we are probably now heading into a global risk-off where there could be massive sell-off of riskier assets and that is going to be largely impacting emerging markets which are already reeling under the currency pressure," he added. Tracking weak sentiments, Indian markets opened on a weak note with benchmark indices plunging over 1 per cent each, led by profit booking in rate-sensitive, capital goods and oil & gas stocks. Tracking sell-off in other Asian markets, the

BSE Sensex slipped over 400 points, while the broader 50-share index Nifty fell below its key psychological level of 5,200. At 10:26 a.m.; the 50-share index was at 5,146.75, down 141.70 points or 2.6 per cent. It touched a high of 5,236.05 and a low of 5,118.85 in early trade. The S&P BSE Sensex was at 17,533.33, down 434.75 points or 2.5 per cent. It touched a high of 17,851.44 and a low of 17,448.71 in trade today.