New Delhi, June 10, 2013: Inching closer to the 59 mark, the rupee today fell by a whopping 74 paise to hit a new all-time low of 58.90 in the late morning trade on persistent dollar demand from importers and banks as well as heavy capital outflows amid weak local equities.
The rupee resumed lower at 58.35 against the dollar as against the last close of 58.16 per dollar at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market and dropped further to an all-time low of 58.90 per dollar.
However, it recovered slightly to 58.67 per dollar at 1100 hrs, showing a loss of 52 paise from its yesterday close.
Persistent dollar demand from importers and banks due to higher dollar in the international market mainly affected the rupee value against the dollar, a forex dealer said.
In New York, the US dollar gained against the Japanese yen yesterday as more investors anticipated the Bank of Japan could unveil additional easing efforts at its policy meeting.
Meanwhile, oil prices were mixed in Asia early today after a batch of downbeat Chinese data highlighted concerns about slowing growth in the world’s second largest economy.
New York’s main contract, West Texas Intermediate light sweet crude for delivery in July added five cents to USD 95.82 a barrel.
The BSE benchmark Sensex dropped by 181.70 points, or 0.93 per cent, to 19,259.37 at 1100hrs.