Rupee Falls For Fourth Straight Day Against Dollar: 5 Things To Know

Falling for the fourth straight day, rupee edged lower by 8 paise and closed at 70.81 against the US dollar on Tuesday, news agency Press Trust of India (PTI) reported. The sentiment was hit by heavy capital outflows by investors anxious over the US-China trade tensions and a sharp devaluation in yuan. The rupee opened at 70.80 against the greenback and touched an intraday high of 70.47 and a low of 70.89. In the past four sessions, rupee has lost 202 paise against the dollar.

Here are key things to know about rupee-dollar rate today:

1. On Monday, the rupee suffered its biggest single-day drop in the last six years and closed at a five-month low of 70.73 against the American currency.

2. The rupee is trading in a narrow range ahead of the outcome of Reserve Bank of India's monetary policy review meet, the report quoted forex traders as saying. 

3. Many analysts expect the RBI to cut the repo rate by 25 basis points on Wednesday. Almost 80 per cent of 66 economists surveyed by Reuters expected the RBI to cut its benchmark repo rate by 25 bps. Three respondents predicted a 50 bps cut and the remaining 10 forecast the rate would be left unchanged. The last time the RBI made so many back-to-back cuts was after the global financial crisis over a decade ago, when most major central banks were desperate to revive economic growth

4. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) remained net sellers in the capital markets, pulling out Rs. 2,107.93 crore on Tuesday, NSE's provisional data showed.

5. Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, rose 0.12 per cent to $59.88 per barrel. The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, rose 0.01 per cent to 97.53. 

(With inputs from agencies)