The rupee, on Thursday, hit an all-time low of 56.57 on sustained dollar demand from oil importers amid a sharp fall in crude prices, before the Reserve Bank of India intervened to help the currency to recover some ground but it still ended 15 paise down at 56.30.
Lesser-than-expected aggressive measures by U.S. Federal Reserve, weak economic Chinese data and a fall in the dollar’s main rival euro ahead of an audit of Spanish banks, helped the American currency rise and sentiment was against the rupee right from the outset. The rupee has fallen by 90 paise or 1.62 per cent in four consecutive days amid worries over country’s economic health.
Globally, the mood was negative after Fed, on Wednesday, said the U.S. economic growth in 2012 would be between 1.9 per cent and 2.4 per cent. This is lower than the April projection of 2.4-2.9 per cent.
The RBI fixed the reference rate for the U.S. dollar at Rs.56.4178 and for the euro at Rs.71.5215.
