The Reserve Bank of India likely sold dollars around 68.20 rupee levels through state-owned banks to prevent the rupee from falling further, three traders said on Friday, adding that appeared to be the level the central bank was keen on defending.
The rupee recovered from its early lows but was still down at 67.91 at about 4.30 pm.
The domestic currency had tumbled to 68.21 against the dollar in early trading today, its lowest since March 1.
The Indian rupee had opened at 67.88 and traded between 68.21 and 67.78 during intra-day deals.
The currency had closed at 67.25/67.26 per dollar on Thursday.
The currency was plunging in line with Asian currencies after a referendum in Britain appeared to be leaning towards leaving the European Union.
In the global market , the pound today collapsed to a 31-year low and there was pandemonium on currency, equity and oil markets as Britain voted to leave the European Union, fuelling a wave of global uncertainty.
Sterling crashed 10 per cent to USD 1.3229 at one point, its weakest level since 1985, while the greenback itself slumped below 100 yen for the first time in two-and-a-half years as traders fled to safety.
In the weeks leading up to yesterday’s historic vote, there had been widespread warnings that a ‘Brexit’ would cause a rout across global markets that would wipe trillions off valuations, just months after a painful China-fuelled sell-off.
The doomsday scenario appeared to be playing out as markets suffered one of their worst days since the 2008 financial crisis after final results confirmed one of the EU’s big three economies would leave the bloc after four decades.
Fears are also growing that other EU members will push for referendums, posing the biggest threat to the future of grouping since its inception almost 60 years ago.