Breaching the psychological 73 per dollar mark, Indian rupee ended at record low closing level against dollar on Wednesday, amid a surge in global crude prices. The rupee sentiments were hit with the government data showing that the growth of eight core sectors slowed to 4.2% in August, due to fall in output of crude oil, petroleum product and fertiliser. Besides, retail inflation for industrial workers rose to 5.61% in August from 2.52% in the year-ago month mainly due to rise in prices of food items and petroleum products. Cautions also crept ahead of the Reserve Bank of India’s monetary policy review later this week and Services PMI data for the month of September to be released on October 4, 2018. Besides, a sharp sell-off in the domestic stock market coupled with dollar’s strength against major global currencies overseas also put pressure on the rupee. On the global front, dollar stood near a one-month high against its peers on Wednesday as concerns as political wrangling over Italy's budget plan rattled market sentiment and weighed on the euro.
Finally, the rupee ended at 73.34, 43 paise weaker from its previous close of 72.91 on Monday. The currency touched a high and low of 73.42 and 72.90 respectively. The reference rate for the dollar stood at 73.02 and for Euro stood at 84.57 on October 3, 2018. While the reference rate for the Yen stood at 64.18, the reference rate for the Great Britain Pound (GBP) stood at 94.98. The reference rates are based on 12 noon rates of a few select banks in Mumbai.
