The rupee faced its worst single-day fall in over a month, depreciating by 38 paise to close at 87.33 against the US dollar on Monday.
This steep decline was primarily driven by volatile crude oil prices and tariff uncertainties worldwide, coupled with the relentless outflow of foreign funds.
Despite a weaker American currency, the rupee’s performance was further dampened by a sell-off in the domestic equity market, negatively impacting investor sentiment. The rupee opened weak at 87.24 and, amid intense volatility, touched a low of 87.36 before closing at 87.33. This marks a substantial drop from its previous closing level of 86.95 on Friday, where it had appreciated by 17 paise.
Adding to the financial turmoil, domestic equity markets also ended lower, with the BSE Sensex falling by 217.41 points to 74,115.17 and the Nifty losing 92.20 points to close at 22,460.30. Foreign institutional investors contributed to the decline, offloading equities worth Rs 2,035.10 crore on a net basis on Friday.
The Reserve Bank of India’s latest data revealed a decrease in the country’s forex reserves by USD 1.781 billion to USD 638.698 billion in the week ending February 28, reflecting the challenges faced by the domestic market amid global economic uncertainties.
