Rupee depreciated for second consecutive session

Indian rupee weakened for second consecutive session on Tuesday against the US dollar, due to rising crude oil prices along with stronger dollar.

Market participants remained worried with report that former Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Raghuram Rajan cited the slowdown in the economy as very worrisome and said that the government needs to fix the immediate problems in power and non-bank financial sectors and come out with a new set of reforms to encourage the private sector to invest.

Markets also took note of RBI governor Shaktikanta Das’ statement that the central bank is looking to formalise policies to link loan rates to an external benchmark like the repo so as to speed up transmission.

Finally, the rupee ended at 71.71, 28 paise weaker than its previous close of 71.43 on Monday. The currency touched a high and low of 71.53 and 71.80 respectively.