The rupee dropped by 5 paise to close at 71.36 against the US dollar on the last trading session of 2019 on Tuesday, leading to a total loss of 159 paise or 2.28% in the year amid trade war concerns, a rebound in crude oil prices and higher import bill.
The had closed the 2018 year at 69.77 to the US dollar.
“Rupee registering more than 2.20% weakness this year in 2019 along with about 10 per cent weakness registered in the year 2018 largely on back of higher import bills on back of rising gold & recently crude prices,” said Jateen Trivedi, Senior Research Analyst (Commodity & Currency) at LKP Securities.
The rupee opened higher at 71.28 per dollar at the interbank foreign exchange market and hovered in a range of 71.23 and 71.37 before ending at 71.36 per dollar, showing a loss of 5 paise over its previous close.
