Rupee drops to all-time record low of 61.51 vs dollar

Mumbai: The Indian rupee dropped to an all-time record low of 61.51 per dollar in the late morning session on fresh dollar demand from banks and importers amid weakness of dollar in the overseas market and fall in the equity market.
 The rupee resumed lower at 61.05 per dollar as against the last closing level of 60.88 per dollar at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) Market and dropped further to an all-time record low of 61.51 per dollar before quoting at 61.43 at 1030 hrs.
 The intra-day lowest of 61.21 was recorded on July 8, 2013. Fresh dollar demand from banks and importers in view of fall in the equity market mainly affected the rupee value against the dollar, a forex dealer said.
 The Indian benchmark sensex dropped by 194.44 points or 1.01 per cent at 18,987.82 at 1030 hrs. In New York, the dollar fell broadly yesterday as a better-than-expected reading on activity in the US service sector failed to overcome last week’s below-consensus report on job growth in the US and its implications for a slowing of Federal Reserve stimulus.