The rupee slumped by 33 paise to finish at a fresh lifetime low of 74.39 against the US dollar on Tuesday on high crude oil prices, strengthening of the greenback and unabated foreign fund outflows.

At the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex), the rupee made a cautious recovery of 18 paise to 73.88 against the US dollar in early trade on fresh selling of the American currency by banks and exporters.

However, the domestic currency failed to sustain the momentum after Brent crude breached the USD 84 per barrel-mark again and the US dollar strengthened overseas.

It finally closed at 74.39 against the US dollar, down by 33 paise, marking its sixth straight session of decline.

On Monday, the domestic unit plummeted by 30 paise to close at record low of 74.06.