Rupee slumps 51 paise to an all-time low of 80.47 against the US dollar

The rupee depreciated 51 paise to an all-time low of 80.47 against the US dollar in early trade on Thursday after the US Federal Reserve's interest rate hike and its hawkish stance weighed on investor sentiments.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the local currency was trading at 80.47 against the dollar, down 51 paise from its previous close. The rupee opened at 80.27 and touched a record low of 80.47 a dollar in initial deals.

Forex traders said the strength of the American currency in the overseas market, a muted trend in domestic equities, risk-off moods and firm crude oil prices weighed on the local unit.

On Wednesday, the rupee declined 22 paise to close at 79.96 against the dollar.

The US Fed hiked interest rates by 75 basis points to 3-3.25 per cent. It was the third straight 75 basis points hike. Fed Chair Jerome Powell in his press conference reiterated the Fed's commitment to taming inflation.

"Given the broad dollar strength, the Reserve Bank of India too may look to revise its intervention function. We are likely to see a 80.10-80.50 range on Thursday," IFA Global Research Academy said.

"We have got to get inflation behind us. I wish there were a painless way to do that," Fed Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said. "There isn't".

He added: "We want to act aggressively now, and get this job done, and keep at it until its done."

Focus will be on Bank of Japan (BoJ) and Bank of England (BoE) monetary policies, it said, adding that BoE is expected to hike rates by 50 basis points.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, advanced 0.88 per cent to 111.61.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude futures rose 0.49 per cent to USD 90.27 per barrel.

On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share BSE Sensex was trading 166.77 points or 0.28 per cent down at 59,290.01, while the broader NSE Nifty fell 41.15 points or 0.23 per cent to 17,677.20.

Foreign institutional investors were net sellers in the capital market on Wednesday as they offloaded shares worth Rs 461.04 crore, as per exchange data.