Rupee inches closer to 73, hits 72.92 against dollar

New Delhi: Continuing its downward trend, the Indian rupee hit a new low of Rs 72.92 in late morning trade on Wednesday.

The rupee has been on a down slide owing to inflationary pressure and decline among its global peers against the dollar.

Surging crude oil prices, uanabated foreign fund outflows and escalating trade war concerns kept the rupee under pressure, dealers said.

On Tuesday, after scaling a historic low of 72.74, the local unit, finally settled day at 72.69, showing a loss of 24 paise, or 0.33 percent.

Brent crude gained 0.35 percent to quote at USD 79.34 a barrel. It had surged over 2 percent in Tuesday's trade.

Moody's Investors Service on Monday 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 Agency Inputs