MUMBAI, 13 JAN

The rupee logged its steepest fall in nearly two years, plunging 55 paise to hit a historic low of 86.59 against the US dollar during mid-session on Monday due to strengthening of the American currency and surging crude oil prices.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 86.12 and fell to the lowest ever level of 86.59 against the greenback during mid-session, registering a loss of 55 paise from its previous close. The local unit however pared some losses and was later trading 46 paise down at 86.50 versus the dollar.

The fall of 55 paise, or 0.65 per cent, in one session was the steepest since February 6, 2023 when the unit had lost 68 paise.

The Indian currency has witnessed the deepest plunge of more that Re 1 in the past two weeks from the closing level of 85.52 on December 30.

It declined 18 paise to settle at 86.04 against the US dollar on Friday, a day after registering a marginal gain of 5 paise. Earlier on Wednesday, it had plunged 17 paise.

The unprecedented fall was attributed to the relentless chase of the US dollar, which also led to a huge outflow of foreign capital from Indian equities.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 2,254.68 crore on Friday. They have withdrawn Rs 22,194 crore from Indian equities so far this month, according to exchange data.

According to forex analysts, the Reserve Bank of India is also likely to change its stance towards stabilising the rupee's exchange rate versus dollar amid dwindling currency reserves.

"RBI will allow the weakness as demand keeps moving up and supplies dwindle," said Anil Kumar Bhansali, Head of Treasury and Executive Director, Finrex Treasury Advisors LLP.

At the same time, the dollar strengthened on better-than-expected job growth in the US market, which also fuelled the benchmark treasury yields amid expectations of slower interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve, analysts said.

Besides, the US has imposed more sanctions on Russia, triggering Brent oil higher towards USD 81 per barrel. This comes at a time when investors are already cautious in anticipation of restrictive trade measures by the new regime under President Donald Trump.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading up 0.11 per cent to its over two-year-high level of 109.60. The 10-year US bond yields remained elevated touching its October 2023 level at 4.78 per cent.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, surged 1.42 per cent to USD 80.92 per barrel in futures trade.

In the domestic equity market, the 30-share BSE Sensex was trading sharply lower by 917.30 points, or 1.19 per cent, at 76,461.61 points, while the Nifty was down 307.40 points, or 1.31 per cent, at 23,124.10 points.

The Reserve Bank of India on Friday said the country's forex reserves dropped by USD 5.693 billion to USD 634.585 billion in the week ended January 3.

The latest government data released on Friday, however, showed the industrial production (IIP) growth accelerated to a six-month high of 5.2 per cent year-on-year in November 2024, riding on the increased festive demand and pick-up in the manufacturing sector.