(Corrects to 84.37-84.3750, from 83.37-83.3750, in paragraph 3)
MUMBAI, – The Indian central bank was likely selling U.S. dollars on Friday to support the rupee as the currency was pinned near its all-time low due to persistent outflows from local stocks, five traders told Reuters.
The rupee was at 84.3675 per U.S. dollar as of 10:35 a.m. IST, just shy of its all-time low of 84.3775 hit on Thursday.
State-run banks were spotted offering dollars near 84.37-84.3750 levels, most likely on behalf of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), traders said.
The RBI is “holding the level but equity outflows are still there,” keeping the rupee under pressure, a trader at a mid-sized foreign bank said.
Benchmark Indian equity indices, the BSE Sensex and Nifty 50 were down about 0.1% each on the day. The dollar index was a tad higher at 104.5 while Asian currencies were mixed.
(Reporting by Jaspreet Kalra, Nimesh Vora; Editing by Janane Venkatraman)
