Rupee Tumbles

The Indian rupee today tumbled to its all-time intra-day low of 49.51 against US dollar in the morning trading on fresh dollar demand from foreign banks amid concerns about capital outflows from equity. In fairly active trade at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (forex) market, the domestic currency resumed sharply lower at 49.20/22 a dollar from its previous close of 49.00/01 a dollar and later hit a low of 49.50/51 a dollar in late morning deals in sync with a sharp slide in local stocks. The rupee had hit 49.30 level during trading on October 10 due to heavy dollar buying amid lingering crisis in global financial markets. Forex dealers said foreign banks were buying dollar in the face of inadequate supplies. They said fears of sustained capital outflows from the depressed capital markets also weighed on the rupee sentiment. Foreign Institutional Investors have been consistent net sellers in the Indian bourses. They have pulled out nearly 12 billion dollars so far in the current calendar year.