Rupee touches record low of 69.50 against dollar; Sensex, Nifty also down

Indian rupee today hit an all-time low against the US dollar on broader weakness in other emerging market currencies following the Turkish rout spill-over. It breached 69.50 level to reach 69.62 against the dollar. The domestic currency opened at a low of 69.47 today. At the time of publishing of this article, the rupee was trading at 69.48 per dollar.

Share market also fell for a second straight session on Monday tracking weak Asian peers, with financials accounting for more than half of the losses on the NSE index.

HDFC Bank, down 1.3 percent, was the top drag on the NSE Index after the lender on Friday said its deputy managing director was stepping down. Nomura, in a note, said Paresh Sukthankar`s resignation was a "mild negative" in the near term.

State Bank of India shares fell nearly 3 percent after the top public sector lender reported a wider-than-expected quarterly loss on Friday.
 
The NSE banking index was down 1 percent and the PSU banking index was trading 2.2 percent lower at its lowest level in over a week.

"The movement is very stock-focused today, with financials being the obvious drags after news on HDFC and SBI on Friday," said Vinod Nair, head of research at Geojit Financial Services in Cochin.

There was a risk-on environment in emerging markets over the last two-to-three weeks, and specifically for India, sentiment had turned from `very negative` to `marginally positive` in the said period. However, indications now show that `risk-on` is fading, Nair added.

Nifty energy sector fell one percent, led by index heavyweight Reliance Industries, down 1.2 percent on profit-booking, analysts said. 

Oil prices dipped on Monday after rising trade tensions dimmed outlook for fuel demand growth, especially in Asia. 

Asian stocks witnessed sell-off as risk aversion following the sharp drop in the Turkish lira drove demand for safer asset classes.
 
Vedanta Ltd fell 3.5 percent while the Nifty metals index was down 0.4 percent.