Rupee hits new record low against US dollar

Mumbai: The rupee slipped 13 paise to hit its intra-day record low of 77.81 against the US dollar on Thursday, weighed down by elevated crude oil prices and persistent foreign capital outflows.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 77.74 against the American dollar, then fell further and touched its intra-day record low of 77.81, registering a fall of 13 paise from the last close.

On Wednesday, the rupee recovered from its record low to close 10 paise higher at 77.68 against the American currency.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Wednesday raised the key interest rate by 50 basis points, the second increase in five weeks, to rein in the rise in prices that it saw continuing to hurt consumers in the near term.

The rate hike comes on the back of a 40 bps increase by the RBI at an unscheduled meeting on May 4.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude futures fell 0.12 per cent to USD 123.43 per barrel.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.01 per cent higher at 102.55.

On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share Sensex was trading 10.05 points or 0.02 per cent higher at 54,902.54, while the broader NSE Nifty advanced 5.65 points or 0.03 per cent to 16,361.90.

Foreign institutional investors were net sellers in the capital market on Wednesday as they offloaded shares worth Rs 2,484.25 crore, as per stock exchange data.