MUMBAI (Reuters) -The Indian rupee weakened to a lifetime low against the dollar on Friday, dragged down by subdued risk appetite on fading expectations of a Federal Reserve rate cut and uncertainty over the U.S.–India trade impasse.
The rupee touched 88.83, slipping past its previous all-time low of 88.80 hit in late September and again earlier this month. It was down 0.1% on the day.
On the interbank order-matching system, losses were even sharper, with the currency last quoted at 89.34.
Pressure on the rupee has persisted since steep U.S. tariffs on Indian exports came into effect in late August. The currency is now among the weakest major Asian performers this year as foreign investors have withdrawn $16.5 billion from Indian equities so far.
On Friday, traders said that the central bank, which had actively defended the 88.80 level in recent sessions, appeared to have scaled back its intervention.
This compounded the pressure on the rupee, which is already contending with hedging interest from importers and muted activity from exporters.
There was a sudden spike in volumes once 88.80 broke, a trader at a private sector bank said.
(Reporting by Jaspreet Kalra; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Sonia Cheema)
