Rupee breaches 68-mark against dollar; down 42 paise

The rupee today breached the 68-mark against the dollar for the first time since September 4, 2013, by falling 42 paise to trade at 68.07, on strong dollar demand from importers amid continuing capital outflow by foreign funds.

Besides, a weak trend in domestic equities weighed on the the domestic unit.

At the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market, the local currency opened sharply lower at 67.77 from its previous close of 67.65 and breached 68 level for the first time since September 4, 2013, to hit a low of 68.07 (intra-day), down 42 paise.

Forex dealers said besides heavy demand for the US currency from importers and persistent capital outflows, a weak trend at the domestic equity market weighed on the rupee.

However, the dollar’s weakness against some currencies overseas, capped the losses.

Meanwhile, the BSE Sensex cracked the crucial 24,000-mark by plunging 481.19 points, or 1.96 per cent to trade at 23,998.65 at mid-session (intra-day), its lowest since May 16, 2014.