The rupee on Tuesday closed at over seven-week lows at 64.33 against the dollar led by large dollar requirement by a corporate which further led to triggering of stop-losses that accentuated the decline.
The fall of the currency gathered momentum at around two in the afternoon even as stop-losses at levels between 64.20 and 64.25 got triggered due to large buying by a corporate house, dealers said.
“There was a heavy requirement of dollars by a large corporate house. On Tuesday, we saw a foreign bank along with a few state-owned banks buy dollars. Some exporters also cashed out towards the end of the day,” said a currency dealer. This is the highest one-day fall of the rupee in over five weeks with the currency having tested 64.33 on the lower side during the day.
The rupee has given a year-to-date return of 5.59 per cent which is higher than most of its emerging markets peers. The Chinese renminbi has given a YTD return of 5.46 per cent, the South African Rand has provided a return of 3.11 per cent while the Indonesian rupiah’s return stands at 1.46 per cent. The Russian Ruble has provided a return of 5.97 per cent, while the Malaysian Ringitt has given a return of 7.03 per cent. The rupee’s appreciation this year has been supported by considerable foreign investments into Indian debt and equity to the tune of $27.19 billion.