Rupee closes at record low of 72.45 against dollar

New Delhi: The rupee closed at fresh record low of 72.45 against dollar on Monday after opening in new record low following.

Negative leads from global markets as investors turned cautious amid fears of a possible escalation in the US-China trade conflict hit the market sentiment. Rupee hit a record low of 72.67 in intra-day, however in later trading, the Indian currency managed to recover some losses.

Rupee last week crashed below the 72-level for the first time ever to hit a historic low of 72.11 before closing at 71.73, showing a steep loss of 73 paise.

The slide in the Indian currency pushed stock markets to shed more than 1 percent, by closing at three-week low levels Monday

The benchmark 30-share BSE Sensex closed at a three-week low of 37,922.17, down by 467.65 points or 1.22 percent, which was its biggest single-day fall since March 16 when it lost 509.54 points. The 50-share NSE Nifty also dropped below the 11,500-level by plunging 151 points or 1.30 percent -- its biggest single-day fall since February 6 -- to close at 11,438.10, the lowest closing since August 16. Intra-day, it hit a low of 11,427.30.

Moody's Investors Service has said that sustained weakening of the rupee is credit negative for Indian companies which generate revenue in rupees but rely on US dollar debt to fund their operations.

The Indian rupee has depreciated 13 percent so far in 2018 and touched a historic low of Rs 72.67 to a dollar Monday before a rebound on strong intervention of the Reserve Bank.

With PTI Inputs