Rupee falls to 79.88 against dollar with 100 bps Fed hike on cards

The rupee closed at 79.88 against the dollar on Thursday to hit a new low, weakening 0.3 per cent against the greenback, as a sharper-than-expected rise in US inflation stoked speculation of the Federal Reserve hiking interest rates by 100 basis points (bps) at its meeting this month.

The domestic currency, which had closed at 79.64/$ at its previous close, slipped to a low of 79.92/$ intraday.

“Rupee delayed the level of eighties, but for the time being. We expect it to break sooner,” HDFC Securities Research Analyst Dilip Parmar told Business Standard. “With markets now considering 100-bp (hike) by