Historic fall in rupee against dollar, fall in gold and silver too

The value of the rupee fell sharply against the dollar on Friday afternoon ahead of the festival of Holi. After the historic fall, it reached its lowest level ever. The rupee fell 35 paise to close at Rs 83.48 against the US dollar. Earlier, the lowest level of rupee was 83.40, which was touched on 13 December 2023. The Indian currency opened at Rs 83.28 against the dollar on Friday morning. By evening it decreased further. The dollar has also strengthened against other foreign currencies, the euro and the pound.

Rupee falls to 83.52 against dollar in intraday trade

The unexpected cut in interest rates by the Swiss National Bank (SNB) also weighed on the rupee. SNB cut interest rates by 25 basis points to 1.5 percent. After this, expectations have increased that the European Central Bank (ECB) may cut interest rates in June 2024 also. Other Asian currencies also declined on Friday. Due to which the rupee fell by 35 paise against the dollar. In intraday trading it fell to 83.52 against the dollar.

Dollar strengthened due to weakness in euro and pound

According to Anuj Chaudhary, research analyst at Sharekhan by BNP Paribas, the US dollar strengthened due to weakness in the euro and pound. The pound declined as the Bank of England made no changes in interest rates. Strong US economic data also helped strengthen the dollar.

As the dollar index rises, so does the oil benchmark

The dollar index, which measures the strength of the US currency against six major world currencies, rose 0.31 percent to 104.32 on Friday. The global oil benchmark also rose 0.05 percent to $85.74 per barrel. According to Anuj Chaudhary, all these circumstances are currently pointing towards the weakness of the rupee. If the Reserve Bank of India sells dollars, it could help stabilize the rupee.

The price of gold and silver also declined

On Friday, BSE Sensex closed at 72,831.94, up 190.75 points or 0.26 per cent. Apart from this, NSE's Nifty increased by 84.80 points or 0.39 percent to reach 22,096.75 points. According to stock exchange data, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) on Thursday invested Rs. Shares worth Rs 1,826.97 crore were sold. Meanwhile, on Friday, the price of gold fell by Rs 875 to Rs 66575 per tola and the price of silver also fell by Rs 760 to Rs 76990.