The rupee witnessed its worst crash in the last two decades and plummeted to a record low on Wednesday, slipping below its psychological 68-level mark against the dollar as the rise in the prices of gold and crude oil in the global markets amidst a worsening current account deficit dented sentiments. Massive selling by foreign institutional investors (FII) in the equity markets also added to the rupee woes. The partially convertible rupee plunged 3.86 per cent, the biggest single-day fall since 1993, to close the day at 68.80 as compared to its previous day’s close of 66.24 per dollar. Even a brief intervention by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in the open market was not sufficient to lift the rupee higher as dealers pointed out that aggressive share sales by overseas investors and a high amount of speculative trading in the non-deliverable forward (NDF) market outside India dragged the local currency to a record low. Cutting their exposure further to the Indian equity market, FIIs dumped shares worth '1,120.43 crores, the provisional data from the stock exchanges showed. However, the equity markets, which plunged around three per cent in the initial trading hours tracking a weak rupee and rising tension in
