(RTTNews) - Friday in Asia, the Indian rupee declined against the US dollar mainly due to across the board rallying of the latter as the Federal Reserve on Thursday surprised markets by hiking the discount rate by 25 basis points to 0.75 percent, effective February 19.
The Indian market is trading extremely weak today after the Fed's unexpected move, pulling down commodity prices and the index futures. Currently, the benchmark Sensex is trading at 16,156, down 172 points or 1.05% and the Nifty is moving down by 1.12% to 4,833.
The rupee depreciated around 0.5 percent to reach a 4-day low of 46.485 against the US dollar around 10:35 pm ET Thursday from Thursday's North American session closing value of 46.2750. If the rupee weakens further, it may test support around the 46.80 level. Currently, the dollar-rupee pair is trading at 46.43.