MUMBAI, Aug 30 (NNN-PTI) – The Indian rupee slipped to an all-time low at 80.075 against the U.S. dollar, yesterday, after the United States Federal Reserve Chairman, Jerome Powell, indicated more interest rate hikes going forward.
The Indian rupee opened at 80.075 yesterday morning, from its previous close of 79.865 and closed at 79.97, after touching an intra-day low of 80.13.
The previous low of the Indian rupee against the greenback was 80.06 in Sept, going up seven percent so far this year.
Declaring more interest hikes were needed, to tackle the four-decade peak of inflation in the U.S. economy, Powell warned of more pain to American consumers, at the Fed’s policy forum.
Reacting to the weak rupee, Indian benchmark indices were in red throughout the day, ending 1.5 percent down from the previous close.
Indian information technology companies, led by Tech Mahindra, Infosys, Wipro and HCL Tech, which are the key component of benchmark indices, and normally benefit from a weak rupee, were losers yesterday, following declining trends on Nasdaq in the preceding trading session, said Mohit Nigam, head of portfolio management services at Hem Securities, a domestic stock brokerage house.
Experts believed, interest rate hikes are likely to remain the norm in the coming months, as India’s Central Bank has so far raised the rate by 140 basis points this year, to counter inflation, along with the sinking rupee that may trigger another rate hike in Oct.– NNN-PTI
