Mumbai, June 28: The rupee breached the 69 mark for the first time today to hit a record low against the US dollar, on the back of increase in crude oil prices and concerns of higher inflation and widening current account deficit.  According to reports,  trade war concerns, strength in the dollar index and weakness in the emerging market currencies are the major factors for the rupee depreciation.

The rupee today opened at 68.89 and hit an all time low of 69.09 a dollar, breaching the earlier low of 68.86 hit on 24 November 2016. The global oil prices are near the highest level since 2014 after data showed US crude inventories have slipped by the most in almost two years and exports have touched a record.

In the past six months, the rupee has devalued by nearly 6.9 per cent, making it the worst performing currency in India. It is closely followed by Philippines peso and Indonesian rupiah that are down 6.7 percent and 4.3 percent, respectively.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 28, 2018 10:18 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).