The Indian rupee opened at a record low on Monday, tracking losses in Asian currencies after US President Donald Trump said he will introduce more tariffs. The rupee slipped 49 paise to open at an all-time low of 87.92 against the US dollar as against its Friday’s close of 87.43 per USD.
The dollar index, which measures the US currency against six other units, was higher at 108.3.
Asian currencies slipped against the greenback after Trump said he will impose new 25% tariffs on all steel and aluminium imports, along with reciprocal tariffs on all countries this week to match the rates levied by each country.
The offshore Chinese yuan dropped past 7.31 to the US dollar, while the Korean won, the Indonesian rupiah and the Malaysian ringgit were down 0.4% to 0.7%, Reuters reported.
“The rupee is expected to trade at elevated levels 87.50-88.20 in the near term, with 87.50 as a key support level, balancing global uncertainties with domestic policy shifts,” said Amit Pabari, MD, CR Forex Advisors.
On the domestic front, the rupee saw a mini relief rally on Friday after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) was not more dovish than expected at its monetary policy decision. The RBI cut repo rate by 25 basis points (bps) to 6.25%.
However, last week, Indian rupee depreciated by 1.25% and closed at 87.59, driven by a mix of global tensions and domestic shifts.
Indian Stock Market
The Indian stock market indices traded lower on Monday weighed down by weak global cues.
The Sensex was down 215.77 points, or 0.28%, at 77,644.42, while the Nifty 50 traded 64.20 points, or 0.27%, lower at 23,495.75.
On Friday, Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) net sold Indian shares worth ₹470.39 crore, while Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs) net purchased shares to the tune of ₹454.20 crore, as per provisional data available on the exchanges.
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