Rupee Weakens To Fresh Record Low Against US Dollar

The Indian rupee hit a fresh record low on Monday, amid rising crude oil prices and a decline in the dollar index.

The local currency closed at Rs 83.665 against the greenback, according to Bloomberg. It had opened flat at Rs 83.66 during the day. It had closed at Rs 83.66 on Friday, a record closing low.

Brent is at $82.40 per barrel. The Federal Reserve will convene its next Federal Open Market Committee meeting on interest rates on July 30-31, during which investors expect the Fed to keep rates constant while watching for any indication of a cut later in the year.

As US President Joe Biden exited his presidential bid against Republican nominee Donald Trump, the spot dollar fell 0.10% to 104.2930 this morning. The Dollar index is at 104.21.

"Indian rupee ended Friday on a lowest closing and is expected to open around Rs 83.68 as RBI steps in to protect the rupee, after getting a bountiful of $10 billion as reserves in its report of last week," said Anil Kumar Bhansali, Head of Treasury and Executive Director of Finrex Treasury Advisors LLP.

Bhansali added that the central banks' ammunition of dollar reserves soared to $666.85 billion for the week-ended July 12.

Dollar buying continued to keep rupee weaker in the last month, as the Asian currencies continue to remain weak during these days, he said.