Rupee dips 15p to 77.73

The rupee closed at 77.73 on Thursday, down 15 paise from its previous close of 77.58. The domestic unit is trending close to the all time low of 77.83 that it had touched on May 16.The currency came under pressure following a sell off in the equity markets. It opened weak at 77.72 and fell to a low of 77.76 before recovering on the back of dollar sales by some public sector banks. Dealers said that the pressure on the rupee largely reflected the sales by foreign investors as, globally,the dollar index had weakened marginally and crude oil had softened on fears of slower growth. The depreciating currency will put pressure on the margins of businesses that depend on imports and worsen the macro economic situation by making oil imports more expensive. However, it is not seeing any impact on retail demand for dollars as 'revenge travel' picks up after the pandemic. "Business travel,which had already picked up continues to remain strong. A large number of IT employees have applied for travel visas. We see a strong pic up in leisure travel as well.

After two years of the pandemic, people are in the mood for revenge travel and are not deterred by the weakening of the rupee