The Indian rupee hit yet another record low on Wednesday as worse-than-expected inflation data and the US Fed's decision to hold back on new stimulus steps heightened fears that capital outflows from emerging economies such as India could accelerate. The rupee closed at 53.71/72 to the dollar after briefly hitting an all-time low of 54, which represented a drop of 3.7 percent from its close last Friday.
One-month offshore non-deliverable forward contracts were quoted at 54.17, indicating a short-term negative outlook for the onshore spot rate. The one-month onshore forward dollar premium was at 34.25 points, up from 33 on Tuesday. In the currency futures market, the most-traded near-month dollar-rupee contracts on the National Stock Exchange, the MCX-SX, and the United Stock Exchange were about 53.92 above the spot rate.