Rupee drops 19 paise to new low of 79.45 against USD amid FPI outflows

The rupee depreciated by 19 paise to close at its new low of 79.45 against the US dollar on Monday amid broad-based dollar demand and foreign capital outflows.

However, receding crude oil prices in the international market restricted the loss for the rupee, which posted its third straight session of decline.

At the interbank forex market, the local unit opened weak at 79.30 against the greenback and witnessed an intra-day high of 79.24 and a low of 79.50.

It finally settled at 79.45, down 19 paise over its previous close of 79.26.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, advanced 0.56 per cent to 107.60.

"With the US economy adding jobs at an impressive pace in June, the odds of a series of aggressive rate hikes have increased further, which is pushing the dollar index on an upwards trajectory. The greenback has surged towards a new 20-year high as the concerns about higher terminal rates in the US and deteriorating growth prospects are leading to safe-haven flows in the dollar, which is likely to weigh on the domestic currency in the near term.

"On the domestic front, concerns about a ballooning trade deficit which has surged to a record high of USD 25.6 billion in June are adding further pressure on the local unit," said Sugandha Sachdeva, Vice President - Commodity and Currency Research, Religare Broking Ltd.

On the domestic equity market front, the BSE Sensex ended 86.61 points or 0.16 per cent lower at 54,395.23, while the broader NSE Nifty declined 4.60 points or per cent to 0.03.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, fell 1.43 per cent to USD 105.49 per barrel.

Foreign institutional investors remained net sellers in the capital market on Monday as they sold shares worth Rs 170.51 crore, as per exchange data.

Foreign investors have pulled out over Rs 4,000 crore this month so far amid steady appreciation of the dollar and rising interest rates in the US.

However, the pace of selling by foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) has been declining over the last few weeks.

HDFC Securities Research Analyst Dilip Parmar said the latest rally in the dollar has been a function of the weak fundamental of Europe, the UK and Japan.

"Looking at the domestic economy side, there is a high chance that inflation numbers can cool down in this week's reading but still remain above the central bank's mandate. While on the other side, the current and capital account deficit is likely to be higher than the government's initial estimate," Parmar noted.

The Indian rupee started the week on the backfoot, taking cues from regional currencies amid risk-averse sentiments and broad-based dollar demand, he added.

"Spot USD/INR is having its next stop at 79.90 before heading towards 80-plus, while on the lower side 78.85 remains good support," he said.