The rupee today breached the 68-mark against the dollar for the first time since September 4, 2013, by falling 42 paise to trade at 68.07 at 1315 hours on strong dollar demand from importers amid continuing capital outflow by foreign funds.
Besides, a weak trend in domestic equities weighed on the the domestic unit.
At the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market, the local currency opened sharply lower at 67.77 from its previous close of 67.65 and breached 68 level for the time since September 4, 2013, to hit a low of 68.07 (intra-day), down 42 paise.
Forex dealers said besides heavy demand for the US currency from importers and persistent capital outflows, a weak trend at the domestic equity market weighed on the rupee.
However, the dollar's weakness against some currencies overseas, capped the losses.
Meanwhile, the BSE Sensex cracked the crucial 24,000-mark by plunging 481.19 points, or 1.96 per cent to trade at 23,998.65 at mid-session (intra-day), its lowest since May 16, 2014.
In New York, the US dollar hit 10-month low against some
currencies on a growing appetite for risky assets and lost further ground to the euro after weak US economic data reinforced views that Federal Reserve monetary policy would remain dovish.
Pramit Brahmbhatt of Veracity Financial Services said, "As expected the rupee opened on a positive note well above close of previous trading session, thus by depreciating USD. Since opening trades we saw the rupee appreciating for the whole day. Thus the rupee appreciated 33 paise and closed at 66.22/USD for the day. Trading range for the spot USD/INR pair is expected to be within 66 to 66.80/USD."
Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) and foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 977.98 crore on Monday, as per provisional data released by the stock exchanges.
The benchmark Sensex moved up further by 27.82 points or 0.11 per cent today to close at 25,844.18.
In forward market, premium for dollar declined further on sustained receivings from exporters.
The benchmark six-month premium for September eased further to 194-196 from 194.5-196 paise on Monday and far forward March 2017 contract also moved down to 389-391 paise from 391.75-392.50 paise previously.
