Rupee in free fall, hits fresh all-time low of 53.75 a dollar

The rupee tanked 52 paise to a record low of Rs 53.75/dollar in early trade today, a day after breaching the Rs 53 per dollar-mark, on increased demand for the American currency from banks and importers and sustained foreign capital outflows amid an economic slowdown.

Dollar gains against the euro and other currency rivals overseas amid the lingering euro zone debt crisis put pressure on the rupee, forex dealers said.

In addition, continued foreign capital outflows amid a slowdown of the domestic economy contributed to the weak rupee sentiment, they said.

Furthermore, increased demand for the US currency from importers and banks led to the fall in the rupee value in early trade, the forex dealers added.

The domestic currency had depreciated by 39 paise to close at Rs 53.23/24 per dollar in the previous session after witnessing an all-time low of Rs 53.51 as the dollar strengthened in markets worldwide.

Meanwhile, the BSE benchmark Sensex recovered by 65.19 points, or 0.41%, to 15,937.32 in opening trade on Wednesday.