The rupee weakened by 21 paise to 63.84 against the US dollar due to mounting tensions between US and North Korea.
North Korea said on Wednesday it is “carefully examining" plans for a missile strike on the US Pacific territory of Guam, just hours after US President Donald Trump told the North that any threat it presented to the United States would be met with “fire and fury".
“Heightened geopolitical risks overnight have seen the markets flip from risk-on to risk-off and we have to wait and see how long this move runs before adding some positions,” said Viraj Patel, an FX strategist at ING in London.
The rupee opened weak by 4 paise at 63.79 at the Interbank Foreign Exchange market today. It hovered in a range of 63.84 and 63.71 before quoting at 63.82, down 19 paise at 4.45 pm local time.
The franc wasn't the only beneficiary to the risk-off sentiment sweeping markets. The franc jumped 1.4 per cent to 0.9611 francs per euro in early trades.
The dollar weakened against the yen, which is often sought in times of geopolitical tension. The US currency was down 0.3 per cent at 109.94 yen, following a retreat to 109.740, its weakest since June 15.
Meanwhile, the benchmark BSE index closed down by 216.35 points or 0.68 per cent at 31,797.84, its lowest close in over three weeks.