The Indian rupee Monday crashed to yet another historic low of 71.21, losing 21 paise at the close against the US dollar as nagging concerns over rising crude oil prices and trade war tensions continued to hurt forex market sentiment.
It was a virtual collapse for the Indian unit during the late afternoon session despite a strong start as investors hit the panic button and even government’s efforts to calm investor nerves failed to yield any result.
In early trade, the rupee resumed on a firm foot at 70.80 against weekend close of 71.00 at the inter-bank foreign exchange (forex) market.
It later strengthened to hit a high of 70.71 following bouts of dollar selling by banks before taking a sudden U-turn in late afternoon deals.
The home currency witnessed heavy downside selling pressure with unexplained fatigue and exhaustion towards the fag-end trade and finally ended at the historic level of 71.21, showing a steep loss of 21 paise, or 0.30 per cent.