Overview
- The rupee closed around 90.8 to the dollar on Friday after a third straight fall, lingering just above December’s all-time intraday low of 91.14.
- Dealers pointed to persistent foreign investor outflows and a firmer US dollar following stronger US data as key pressures on the currency.
- Nearly $3 billion of maturing non-deliverable forwards concentrated dollar buying, producing the steepest single-day decline in about two months.
- Traders said RBI dollar sales via state-run banks helped cap losses as official data showed India’s December trade deficit widened to $25.04 billion.
- Lower crude prices and firm domestic equities offered limited support earlier in the day, even as FIIs sold roughly Rs 4,781 crore of equities this week.