Rupee slips to record low pressured by dollar bids from foreign banks, importers

MUMBAI (Reuters) – The Indian rupee slipped to its all-time low on Tuesday pressured by dollar demand from foreign banks and importers, including local oil companies, traders said.

The rupee hit a low of 84.4150, eclipsing its previous record low of 84.4125 hit last week. The currency was last quoted at 84.4075 as of 1:35 p.m. IST.

Likely intervention by the Reserve Bank of India helped the currency avoid further losses with state-run banks spotted intermittently offering dollars, traders said.

The dollar index was a tad higher at 106.3 while Asian currencies trimmed early gains to trade mixed. The offshore Chinese yuan was down 0.2% while the Malaysian ringgit rose nearly 0.3%.

State-run banks are offering dollars in a “hovering kind of way,” so sharp declines remain unlikely, a trader at a large private bank said.

(Reporting by Jaspreet Kalra; Editing by Eileen Soreng)