Rupee falls to record low of 83.34 against dollar, notches weekly decline

The Indian rupee fell to a record low on Friday as a rebound in US Treasury yields pressured Asian currencies.

The rupee closed at 83.34 against the US dollar, a record closing low, and down 0.07 per cent versus its close of 83.28 on Thursday. On the week, the local unit shed 0.2 per cent.

The rupee hit its record low of 83.42 during the session after breaching its previous all-time low of 83.2950 which was hit on November 1.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) likely intervened to limit the rupee's depreciation, four traders said.

While the rupee has broken its long-enduring support of 83.30, a clearer picture will only emerge closer to Wednesday or Thursday, said Abhilash Koikkara, head of forex and rates at Nuvama Professional Clients Group.

If the rupee sustains around 83.40 levels next week, it may settle into a weaker range, Koikarra added.

However, traders said the rupee is unlikely to see sharp declines as the central bank is expected to step in intermittently to curtail the fall.

The pressure on the currency also heightened on Friday due to an outage of the interbank order matching system, traders said.

Most Asian currencies weakened with the Korean won leading losses down by over 0.5 per cent.

The dollar index held just shy of 106 handle while the 10-year US Treasury yield last quoted at 4.64 per cent, well above the week's low of 4.48 per cent.

US yields rebounded following hawkish commentary from US Federal Reserve officials, including Chair Jerome Powell, who signalled that the Fed may tighten rates further if conditions warrant it.

The rupee will keep weakening, but the slide is likely to be gradual as the RBI won't allow excess volatility, a foreign exchange trader at a private bank said.

Investors now await October inflation data for the US and India due next week.