Rupee breaches 90-mark amid unrelenting dollar demand

Indian currency closes at an unprecedented low of 89.96/USD

- Palazhi Ashok Kumar

In a stark reminder of the external pressures roiling global financial markets, the Indian rupee on Tuesday plunged to an unprecedented closing low of 89.96 against the US dollar, after briefly breaching the psychologically critical Rs 90-per-dollar mark in intraday trade.

The sharp slide, amounting to 43 paise, underscores a potent mix of heightened dollar demand, persistent foreign portfolio outflows, and unrelenting speculative activity.

Currency dealers opined that the sentiment in the foreign-exchange market has turned distinctly fragile, unsettled further by the lack of clarity surrounding ongoing Indo-US trade negotiations and a broader global shift toward risk aversion.