The rupee fell 6 paise to a record low of 83.06 versus the US dollar in early trade on Thursday, owing to a strengthened greenback overseas and continued outflows of foreign funds.

Furthermore, a sell-off in domestic stocks and risk-averse sentiments impacted the local currency, according to FX traders.

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At the interbank foreign exchange, the local unit began weakly versus the dollar at 83.05, then fell further to 83.06, a 6-paise drop from its previous close. In early trading, the local currency reached a high of 83.07.

The rupee fell 60 paise versus the dollar in the preceding session on Wednesday, finishing at 83.

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The dollar index, which measures the strength of the greenback vs a basket of six currencies, increased by 0.07% to 113.06.

The Japanese yen fell to 149.96 against the dollar on Thursday, its lowest level since 1990 and close to the critical psychological barrier of 150 per dollar, leaving investors on high alert for further Japanese intervention in the currency market. Sterling lost 0.2% to $1.1201, despite statistics released on Wednesday showing that the sharpest increase in food costs since 1980 drove UK inflation back into double digits last month. The euro fell 0.1% to $0.9762.

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Meanwhile, the New Zealand dollar fell 0.87% to $0.5627, reversing a short rise earlier this week. It had reached an almost two-week high of $0.5719 on Tuesday, following the release of strong inflation data, which prompted predictions of a more aggressive central bank rate rise.

The Australian dollar sank 0.58% to $0.6234, with Thursday’s statistics indicating that Australia’s very tight labour market may finally be relaxing.

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Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) have sold shares worth a net of Rs 453.91 crore, whereas domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought shares worth a net of Rs 908.42 crore on October 19, as per data available on the NSE.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude futures saw a 0.17% decline to USD 92.25 per barrel.

The Sensex was trading 140.09 points, or 0.24%, down at 58,967.10 in the domestic equity market. Similarly, the Nifty dropped 43.95 points, or 0.25%, to 17,468.30.