Indian rupee tumbled considerably against the US dollar on Monday, due to increased demand of the greenback from the importers and the banks. Investor sentiments remained fragile amid coronavirus fears. China’s death toll from the new coronavirus rose to 2,592 on Monday. Traders were also concerned as think tank National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) pegged the India’s economic growth for the current fiscal at 4.9%, a tad down from 5% estimated by the National Statistical Office (NSO). Also, weak trend at Dalal Street coupled with US dollar’s gain against other currencies overseas weighed on the local unit. On the global front, U.S. dollar firmed against its major counterparts in the Asian session on Monday, as a rise in the number of coronavirus cases in the north of Italy raised the appeal of safe-haven assets.
The last traded price of rupee was 71.98, 34 paise weaker from its previous close of 71.64 on Thursday. The currency touched a high and low of 72.01 and 71.76 respectively. The reference rate for the dollar stood at 71.58 and for Euro stood at 77.25 on February 20, 2020. While the reference rate for the Yen stood at 64.21, the reference rate for the Great Britain Pound (GBP) stood at 92.39.
