Rupee Slumps 52 Paise to Revisit Its Lowest Intra-Day Level of 92.35 Against US Dollar

The rupee plummeted 52 paise and revisited its record intra-day low of 92.35 against the US dollar on Monday, weighed down by a steep surge in global crude oil prices and a strengthening greenback amid intensifying conflict in West Asia.

Withdrawal of foreign funds amid intense selling in domestic equity markets further pressured the rupee, forex traders said.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 92.22 and kept losing ground throughout the session until it revisited the record intra-day low of 92.35 against the dollar, a level recorded previously on March 4.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading higher by a 15.18 per cent at USD 106.8 per barrel in futures trade as the war between US-Israel and Iran intensified.

The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.66 per cent higher at 99.64.

On the domestic equity market front, the Sensex was trading 1,386.86 points, or 1.76 per cent, down at 77,532.04, while the Nifty also fell 442.40 points, or 1.81 per cent, to 24,007.70.

Foreign institutional investors sold equities worth Rs 6,030.38 crore on a net basis on Friday, according to exchange data.

Meanwhile, India's forex reserves jumped USD 4.885 billion to an all-time high of USD 728.494 billion during the week ended February 27, the Reserve Bank said on Friday.