Indian rupee weakened against the US dollar on Wednesday, tracking persistent foreign fund outflow and tepid cues from global markets as concerns over the impact of corona virus outbreak continued to weigh on investor sentiment. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) sold equity shares worth Rs 2,415.80 crore on Tuesday, exchange data showed. The death toll due to the deadly disease across the world mounted to 3,123 and confirmed cases surpassed 91,783 (80,303 in China alone), official media reported. The World Health Organization has declared it a global health emergency. Meanwhile, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said that it will take appropriate actions to preserve financial stability in the financial market amid growing corona virus fears. On the global front, the US dollar held near five-month lows against the yen after the US Federal Reserve’s emergency half percentage-point rate cut sparked more fears about the impact of the corona virus and sent Treasury yields tumbling to record lows.
The partially convertible currency is currently trading at 73.55, weaker by 36 paise from its previous close of 73.19 on Tuesday. The currency touched a high and low of 73.5800 and 72.9050 respectively. The reference rate for the dollar stood at 72.24 and for Euro stood at 79.76 on March 2, 2020. While the reference rate for the Yen stood at 66.73, the reference rate for the Great Britain Pound (GBP) stood at 92.74.
