Rupee hits lifetime low of 71.10 against US dollar

Mumbai, Sep 3: The Indian rupee plummeted to a new life-time low of 71.21, shedding 10 paise against the US dollar in late afternoon trade on Monday, tracking weakening trend in emerging market currencies.

A surge in global oil prices, concerns over US-China trade war and contagion risks from Turkey and Argentina's fall in currency valuations have impacted the forex market sentiments. The rupee's last recorded low was 71 against the dollar on 31 August 2018.

Brent crude oil moved up by 0.57 per cent 78.08 a barrel.

Meanwhile, the BSE Sensex fell over 332.55 points to end at 38,312.52 and the NSE Nifty dipped below the 11,600-level by losing 98.15 points to close at 11,582.35 on Monday on heavy losses in FMCG, realty, power, banking, auto, oil & gas, PSU, IT, teck, infrastructure and capital goods counters amid a global rout in equity markets.

On a net basis, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth Rs 212.81 crore Friday, as per provisional data.

Weakening global cues, triggered by continuing trade war spats between the US and China, too impacted domestic market sentiment. The currency's fall has raised concerns on the macroeconomic front.

Adding to the woes, the country's manufacturing sector activity eased for the second consecutive month in August.

Fuel prices across all the cities today hit new all-time high with Mumbai recording the highest rate at Rs 86.56 per litre for petrol- the highest rate in any city in India till date.

GDP (Gross Domestic Product) data released after market hours on Friday showed that India's economy grew at a two-year high of 8.2 per cent in the April-June quarter of 2018-19 on strong performance of manufacturing and agriculture sectors.

This cemented India's position as the fastest growing major economy ahead of China's 6.7 per cent.

OneIndia News (with agency inputs)