Mumbai: The Rupee ended on a weaker note on Thursday as oil prices surged over 1 per cent even as the dollar struggled to maintain its streak after its biggest fall in five months.
The domestic unit opened at 79.2225 from its previous close of 79.51888 and traced until 79.6362. A 36 paise fall was recorded when the rupee finally closed at 79.64 against one US Dollar.
The dollar index slipped 0.2 per cent to 105.010 and remained on the back foot after recording its biggest fall of 1 per cent on 10th August. Slowing US inflation may allow Federal Reserve policymakers to downshift their most aggressive round of monetary policy tightening in decades when they meet next month, though data on tap in the coming weeks could still change the picture.
After a US Labour Department report on Wednesday (Aug 10) showed that consumer prices did not rise at all in July compared with June, traders of futures tied to the Fed’s benchmark interest rate slashed bets that the central bank would enact a third straight 75-basis point hike at its Sept 20 to 21 policy meeting, and instead would opt for a half-point increase.