Rupee skids 48 paise as corporates, oil firms rush to buy dollars

Domestic unit has shed over 9% versus the greenback so far in 2022; latest weakness came despite softer dollar index and strength in Asian currencies, led by a firm Chinese yuan

The rupee weakened sharply against the dollar on Monday as purchases of the greenback by corporations and by nationalised banks on behalf of oil importers dragged the domestic currency lower, dealers said.

The rupee settled at 81.80 per dollar on Monday versus 81.32 on Friday, Bloomberg data showed. So far in 2022, the domestic currency has shed 9.1 per cent against the greenback.

The weakness in the rupee on Monday came despite a softer dollar index and strength in Asian currencies across the board, led by a firm Chinese yuan. The dollar index was at 104.47 at 3:30 pm IST