The Indian rupee continued its downward journey on Monday, sliding another 16 paise to 74.03 against the United States (US) dollar in opening trade, tracking weak opening in domestic equities amid mounting fears of a coronavirus-led economic slowdown.
Forex traders said weak opening in domestic equities and foreign fund outflows dragged the local unit.
Though weakening of the American currency in the overseas market and easing crude oil prices supported the rupee, but traders believe there is mounting fears of recession in major economies due to the coronavirus outbreak and this could weigh on the local unit.
The rupee opened weak at 73.99 at the interbank forex market and then fell further to 74.03, down 16 paise over its last close.
The rupee had settled at 73.87 against the US dollar on Friday.
The overall confirmed cases on the mainland reached 80,735 by the end of Sunday which included 3,119 people who have died so far, 19,016 patients undergoing treatment and 58,600 patients discharged after recovery, China’s National Health Commission, (NHC) said.
Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, tanked 30 per cent to $31.69 per barrel.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) remained net sellers in the capital markets, as they sold shares worth Rs 3,594.84 crore on Friday, as per provisional data.
Stock markets plunged around Asia on Monday. Domestic bourses opened on a negative note as well with benchmark indices Sensex trading 1474.42 points down at 36,102.20 and Nifty down 406.15 points at 10,583.30.
The dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, fell by 0.82 per cent to 95.16.
The 10-year government bond yield was at 6.07 per cent in morning trade.
A letter from the Editor
Dear Readers,
The coronavirus crisis has changed the world completely in the last few months. All of us have been locked into our homes, economic activity has come to a near standstill. Everyone has been impacted.
Including your favourite business and financial newspaper. Our printing and distribution chains have been severely disrupted across the country, leaving readers without access to newspapers. Newspaper delivery agents have also been unable to service their customers because of multiple restrictions.
In these difficult times, we, at BusinessLine have been working continuously every day so that you are informed about all the developments – whether on the pandemic, on policy responses, or the impact on the world of business and finance. Our team has been working round the clock to keep track of developments so that you – the reader – gets accurate information and actionable insights so that you can protect your jobs, businesses, finances and investments.
We are trying our best to ensure the newspaper reaches your hands every day. We have also ensured that even if your paper is not delivered, you can access BusinessLine in the e-paper format – just as it appears in print. Our website and apps too, are updated every minute, so that you can access the information you want anywhere, anytime.
But all this comes at a heavy cost. As you are aware, the lockdowns have wiped out almost all our entire revenue stream. Sustaining our quality journalism has become extremely challenging. That we have managed so far is thanks to your support. I thank all our subscribers – print and digital – for your support.
I appeal to all or readers to help us navigate these challenging times and help sustain one of the truly independent and credible voices in the world of Indian journalism. Doing so is easy. You can help us enormously simply by subscribing to our digital or e-paper editions. We offer several affordable subscription plans for our website, which includes Portfolio, our investment advisory section that offers rich investment advice from our highly qualified, in-house Research Bureau, the only such team in the Indian newspaper industry.
A little help from you can make a huge difference to the cause of quality journalism!
Support Quality Journalism
Please Email the Editor