Mumbai, Aug 31 : The rupee slumped to a fresh record low of 71 against the dollar for the first time ever by falling 26 paise on persistent demand for the US currency amid rising crude prices.
At the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market, the local currency opened lower at 70.95 a dollar and slipped further to hit its lifetime low of 71 from its previous close of 70.74.
Forex dealers said besides robust month-end demand for the American currency from oil importers, dollar’s strength against its rival currencies on expectations of rising interest rates amid lingering Sino-US trade tensions, weighed on the domestic currency.
Growing fears about rising inflation in amid high global crude oil prices and consistent outflow of foreign funds from the domestic equity market also weighed on the domestic currency.
