NEW DELHI, Oct 19: The rupee plunged 61 paise to decline below the 83-mark per dollar for the first time on Wednesday amid unabated foreign capital outflows and a strong dollar in the overseas markets.
Besides, rising crude prices in the international markets and risk-averse sentiment among investors weighed on the local currency, traders said.
At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local currency opened strong at 82.32 but later pared gains to settle at an all-time low of 83.01(provisional) against the American currency, down 61 paise over its previous close. In the previous session on October 18, the rupee slipped 10 paise to end at 82.40 against the dollar.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, advanced 0.31% to 112.48. Global oil benchmark Brent crude futures rose 0.82% to $90.77 per barrel.
On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share BSE Sensex gained 146.59 points or 0.25% to end at 59,107.19, while the broader NSE Nifty advanced 25.30 points or 0.14% to 17,512.25.
(Manas Dasgupta)