Mumbai, 19 March (HS): The Indian rupee on Thursday fell by 49 paise to close at a record low of 92.89 against the US dollar, weighed down by a strong dollar and continued foreign institutional investor (FII) outflows, according to forex traders.
Market sentiment was also affected by rising crude oil prices in the global market amid the ongoing tensions in West Asia.
At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened at 92.42 against the dollar and moved between 92.41 and 92.89 during the session before settling at its lifetime low of 92.89. This marks a sharp fall from its previous closing level of 92.40.
On Tuesday, the rupee had earlier touched its previous intra-day low of 92.47 before closing at a then record low of 92.40.
Forex market experts said the rupee touched a fresh low ahead of key central bank meetings globally, while the Reserve Bank of India allowed the currency to move past the 92.50 level.
The dollar index, which measures the strength of the US dollar against a basket of six major currencies, was trading marginally higher at 99.62.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading around USD 103.4 per barrel in futures trade.
In the domestic equity market, the BSE Sensex ended 633.29 points higher at 76,704.13, while the NSE Nifty rose 196.65 points to close at 23,777.80.
According to exchange data, foreign institutional investors sold equities worth Rs 2,714.35 crore on a net basis during the session.
