MUMBAI: The Indian rupee weakened to its all-time low on Wednesday, pressured by heightened dollar bids in the non-deliverable forwards (NDF) market, while likely intervention by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) helped limit losses, traders said.
The rupee fell to 84.86 in early trading, eclipsing its previous record low of 84.8575 hit on Tuesday. The currency was quoted at 84.8525 as of 10:00 a.m. IST.
State-run banks were spotted offering dollars, most likely on behalf of the RBI, traders said.
There is “quite strong demand in NDF which is hurting the rupee,” a trader at a foreign bank said, who expects the RBI to stay active and keep intra-day losses limited to 5-7 paisa.
Pressure from the NDF market also meant that the rupee was unable to benefit from a rise in most of its regional peers.
The dollar index was steady at 106.3 while most Asian currencies ticked up as investors awaited the closely watched U.S. inflation data due later in the day.
Indian rupee hit all-time low as RBI governor change sparks rate cut hopes
The rupee has weakened 0.4% in December, underperforming nearly all of its regional peers as concerns over slowing economic growth have prompted expectations of domestic monetary policy easing.
While India’s central bank kept rates unchanged at its last meeting, the appointment of a new chief has fuelled expectations of rate cuts next year, weighing on the rupee.
Investors will also pay close attention to the incoming Donald Trump administration’s policies with expected U.S. trade tariffs posing a risk to emerging market assets.
“We expect USD/INR volatility to rise, though it would be unwise to expect USD strength to last the year (2025),” Neelkanth Mishra, chief economist at Axis Bank, said in a note.
The bank expects the rupee to weaken to 85.50 by the end of March 2025.
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