The rupee had closed at 70.78 against the dollar on Friday.

Here are key things to know about rupee-dollar rate today:

Domestic forex market that was already battling against foreign fund outflows for some time came under more pressure due to currency crisis in Argentina and global trade war concerns. Argentina's peso plunged on Monday after the country's centre-right leader Mauricio Macri performed poorly in primary elections. "The rupee remains under pressure as the Chinese Yuan continues to weaken. Emerging markets currencies especially steep fall in Argentina's peso along with ongoing protest in Hong Kong are matter of concern for the global markets," said Rushabh Maru, research analyst, currency and commodity, Anand Rathi Shares and Stock Brokers. "Overall the rupee may gradually head towards 72 mark in the short term," Mr Maru said. "Reflecting global risk-off sentiment, stock markets across the globe slumped today as fears about a drawn out China-US trade war, protests in Hong Kong and a crash in Argentina's peso currency drove investors to safe harbours like bonds, gold, and the yen," Press Trust of India quoted VK Sharma, head-PCG & capital market strategy, HDFC Securities as saying. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) remained net sellers in the capital markets, pulling out Rs. 638.28 crore on Tuesday, NSE's provisional data showed. Domestic stock markets suffered sharp losses on Tuesday amid a selloff across sectors barring energy shares, breaking a two-day winning run. The S&P BSE Sensex index fell 623.75 points to end at 36,958.16, and the broader NSE Nifty benchmark settled at 10,925.85, down 183.80 points from the previous close. Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, fell 0.19 per cent to $58.46 per barrel. The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was at 97.37. Meanwhile, the 10-year government bond yield was at 6.53 per cent on Tuesday.



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The rupee fell for second straight day and breached the 71-mark against the US dollar on Tuesday. The rupee slumped 62 paise to close at a nearly six-month low against the greenback, news agency Press Trust of India (PTI) reported. Weakness in equity markets and Argentine currency crashing drove investors to safe haven assets like gold. The rupee opened at 71.15 and traded between 71.02 and 71.40 against the American currency in the intraday trade. It finally settled at 71.40. The rupee had closed at 70.78 against the dollar on Friday. The domestic currency has lost 71 paise in the past two sessions.