MUMBAI: The Indian rupee slipped to an all-time low on Tuesday, pressured by weakness in its regional peers and likely outflows from local equities, although the Reserve Bank of India’s intervention helped curb sharp declines, traders said.
The rupee closed marginally weaker at 84.0775 against the US dollar, its weakest closing level on record, after touching its all-time low of 84.0825 earlier in the session.
Asian currencies fell between 0.1% and 0.4%, while the dollar index was at 103.9, hovering close to its highest level in two months.
Expectations of a less dovish US rate cut cycle and the rising odds of a second presidential term for Donald Trump have boosted the dollar and US bond yields in recent sessions.
The 10-year US Treasury yield rose to a near-three-month-high on Tuesday and was at 4.20%, while the dollar index has risen more than 3% this month.
“We suspect we are seeing more signs of some deleveraging ahead of the closely contested US election in two weeks — a dynamic that we see supporting the dollar across the board,” ING Bank said in a note.