The rupee continued to bear the brunt of panic dollar demand and plunged by a whopping 27 paise to end at 65.72 a dollar, its lowest level in six-and- a-half months, amid concerns over foreign capital outflows.

This is the lowest level for the home currency since March 14, when it had closed at 65.82 against the greenback.

The rupee has depreciated by sharp 3.04 per cent or 194 paise in last 14 trading sessions after revisiting a fresh one-month high of 63.78 on September 8.

A massive fall in local equities amid heightened global volatility took its toll on the currency market sentiment as global funds dumped Indian assets amid rising expectations for an imminent US interest rate hike.

US Fed chief Janet Yellen, in a speech, said the Federal Reserve should stick to gradual rate hikes despite the uncertainty about the inflation trajectory.

Staging a smart recovery, the rupee today opened higher at 65.35 compared to Tuesday’s closing level of 65.45 at the Interbank Foreign Exchange market on mild dollar selling by exporters.

However, it quickly reversed the trend in line with local stocks and retreated sharply to hit a fresh intra-day low of 65.7550 in late afternoon deals before ending at 65.72, showing a steep loss of 27 paise, or 0.41 per cent.

The benchmark BSE Sensex crashed 440 points as the Indian Army today inflicted “heavy casualties” on NSCN(K) cadre during an operation along the India-Myanmar border.