Rupee falls 43 paise to end at near 1-month low against US dollar

The rupee Monday plunged by 43 paise to close at nearly one-month low of 70.92 against the US dollar amid weak industrial output growth data, fall in domestic equity markets and sustained foreign fund outflows.

A weak US dollar against major global currencies and fall in crude oil prices, however, capped losses of the domestic currency.

At the Interbank Foreign Exchange (forex), the rupee opened on a firm note at 70.50 and touched a high of 70.44 per US dollar in early trade.

But it pared early gains later and fell to an intra-day low of 70.95 against the US dollar.

The domestic currency, however, recovered some lost ground and finally settled for the day at 70.92 per dollar, down 43 paise over its previous closing. This is the lowest closing level since December 17 when the rupee closed at 71.56 per dollar.

On Friday, the rupee had weakened by 8 paise to close at 70.49 against the US dollar.

HDFC Securities Head PCG & Capital Markets Strategy V K Sharma said weaker economic data,